Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (35 page)

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Watching Gabriel open the door, Shea had the irrational urge to run. To take Leo and go somewhere no one would find them.

Which is what you tried to do for a year and look how that had turned out.

An insidious fear had started to creep up on Shea since they’d left the safe house, a panicky weight that settled on her chest and constricted her breathing.

Would Serena, a five-hundred-year-old
strega
, want to offer Shea up on a plate to Dario if Shea revealed what her grandfather had written in his journal?

Or would Serena have another theory on breaking the curse, one that didn’t end with a knife in Shea’s chest?

Hope and fear made her chest tight. Damn it, she was no coward. She wanted answers. If she wanted to get Dario off Leo’s back, she needed to be strong.

Leo’s thin arm snaked around her back, hugged her closer. She looked down, expecting to see fear in his eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered.

So young to be so solemn. She blinked back tears and forced steel into her spine. “I know, bud. Come on, let’s get this done. You and me, just like it’s been for the past year.”

“And Gabriel and Quinn.”

Her smile faltered for just a second. “Yeah. Them, too.”

With one last hug, she took Leo’s hand and forced air into her lungs before she walked through the door into a homey, cottage-style kitchen.

Just in time to see a beautiful, dark-haired woman run one, slim-fingered hand down Gabriel’s cheek while the blasted man smiled at her. Something sharp and mean cut across her chest, some emotion that made Shea want to run her nails across the woman’s perfect cheekbones.

The voices immediately rose up in opposition. They wanted her to get closer, to embrace the woman. They missed her. Shea felt their longing as an almost physical ache.

Shit.

Her entire body stiffened, muscles quivering, ready to run. Away or straight into Gabriel’s arms? Hell, she couldn’t do either.

Finally, the woman, who couldn’t have been more than thirty, turned to her with a sad smile that looked remarkably like Gabriel’s.

“Shea. Leo.” She stepped toward them, her arms lifting just a bit before falling back to her side as Gabriel moved around her to stand next to Shea. “I’m so pleased to meet you. And so very sorry about your parents. Your mother was my best friend. I miss her everyday.”

God, the woman’s voice. Her accent was just the same as her mom’s. The one that came from English being her third language.

“Yeah, well, she never talked about you other than to say you were one of the priestesses.”

Damn. She wanted to take the words back the second they left her mouth. She was being petty but her default setting lately was smart ass.

Banding her arms around Leo’s shoulders, she pulled him back against her, drawing strength from his warm body. She flicked a glance at Gabriel, now leaning against the wall at her side, arms folded across his chest. Watching her.

He’d been ready to kiss this woman.

And that matters why?

Serena’s expression didn’t change. “No, dear, and I understand why. She and your father disappeared soon after you were conceived, as far as I can calculate. If I’d known what was going to happen…”

Despair hit Shea low in the stomach, as if she’d been sucker-punched. A reaction to the same emotion in Serena’s voice.

“Not your fault.” And it wasn’t, not any of it. “I’m sorry, it’s been…”

Shit, how did she finish that? Shea stared straight into the other woman’s odd, shattered eyes—that exactly mirrored her own. The exact same eyes as her mother.

Serena just shook her head. “Shea, please. You have no need for apologies.”

Serena turned to Leo then, and her smile returned. “Welcome, Leo. I must say you look very much like your father. He was such a handsome man.”

“Was” being the operative word, Shea thought with a painful lurch of her heart.

Serena’s smile faded as she met Shea’s gaze again. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but maybe you’d like to have something to eat or take a shower? Maybe Leo would like a nap?”

Leo shook his head, but didn’t speak.

Serena nodded. “That’s fine, too. I understand Gabriel has started your training and that you’re doing very well.” Serena looked to the door then looked at Gabriel. “Is…Quinn still in the garage?”

“He needed to stretch his legs,” Gabriel said.

Serena nodded slowly and sighed, a hint of a shake in it. “Good. That’s good. Then why don’t you show Shea and Leo their rooms and, when you return, we’ll figure out what happens next. I’ll be in the kitchen. I’m sure you’re all hungry…and Quinn will need to eat.”

Serena moved toward Gabriel with a loose-limbed and utterly confident gait. Her old-fashioned peasant dress swirled around her bare legs and she wore no shoes. She appeared utterly comfortable in her skin.

Guess that’s to be expected after five-hundred years.

Raising both hands to his cheeks in a gentle caress, Serena then slid her fingers into the softness of his hair, letting the strands slip across her skin.

Shea’s fingers curled into her palms at the intimacy of the action. Serena smiled, and Shea knew why. Gabriel’s hair felt like silk. She knew the pleasure to be had from running her fingers through it. She would never admit it to Gabriel, but she loved his hair.

And another woman had her hands in it.

Her fingers itched to scratch Serena’s eyes out, which really would’ve been a stupid-ass move. But, Goddess, she wanted to. And when Serena stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to each cheek, Shea felt her nails break through the skin on her palms and forced herself to unclench her fists.

Shit, this was so not good.

When the other woman walked out of the room, Gabriel turned back to Shea.

His hair a little mussed from the other woman’s fingers, he looked sexy and kissable. And she wanted to smack the man.

What was his relationship with Serena? And why the hell had he kissed her back at the safe house if he had a relationship with Serena? Bastard.

His eyes caught hers, and she tried to unclench her jaw, to force the tension from her body. To hide her jealous reaction. Which just pissed her off more.

Of course, she didn’t fool him, not if the hint of a smirk on his lips was any indication.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you your room. I figure you’ll want to stay with Leo.”

He led them through the house but Shea had too much on her mind to notice her surroundings. Leo had a death grip on her hand, and she wasn’t about to let him go.

Halfway down a hall full of doors, Gabriel opened one, stepped in and took a quick look then waved them through.

Shea registered four walls, two beds, a large armoire and an attached bath. No pictures, no TV, no personality.

Leo headed straight for the attached bathroom, closing the door behind him, leaving Shea standing in the middle of the room.

Gabriel walked up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her back against his hard chest.

She stiffened even as she soaked in the warmth of his large body. Damn, she really shouldn’t like the sense of being enclosed by him as much as she did. Everything was so complicated right now and adding her feelings for Gabriel to the mix just made everything seem like a powder keg doused in gasoline.

Still…was it so wrong to want to be safe?

“Take a deep breath.”

His words slid past her ear on a warm breath, stoking the fire in her blood. She’d been so cold only a moment ago and now her skin burned where he held her against him. But it wasn’t only her skin that burned. It was a place deep inside that burned as well.

“And drop the attitude,” he murmured in her ear.

His hands shifted around her shoulders as she turned to meet his gaze. “Is she your lover?”

The full-blown smile she’d longed for days to see on his face made her stomach flip.

“She’s my mother.”

Chapter Fourteen

Gabriel’s grin spread as Shea’s jaw unhinged.

“Your mother?”

“Yeah.”

“But…but she’s…” She broke off and looked down, her mouth beginning to tremble at the corners. “Oh, hell. I’m completely lost here, Gabriel. I don’t know what to think anymore. There’s just too much…too much I don’t understand, too… How old are you?”

He took the non sequitor in stride, his hands firm on her shoulders in case she fainted. She had that look. “Twenty-eight.”

“If you’re her son, then you have two sisters who were cursed at the same time as your mom, according to the history.”

He nodded. “Maddie and Furia. You’ll like them. They’re a lot like you. Stubborn, strong. Mouthy. I love them both, but Furia’s got issues.”

Something else I’ll make Dario pay for.

Shea nodded and, for a second, he thought she might lean into him. He wanted her to lean on him, wanted her to need him and damn the consequences.

The door to the bathroom opened and Leo walked out. Shea pulled away, making his hands drop, and turned to smile at the kid. “Think you can eat something, bud?”

Leo looked from Shea to him, his gaze considering. Gabriel stood a little taller and looked the boy right in the eyes.

“Are you gonna take Shea away?”

Smart kid. No one had said anything, but somehow Leo had picked up on the plans. “Yeah. Shea and I have someone we need to see.”

“Will Quinn stay?”