The COMPLETE Witching Pen Series, Boxed Set (2 page)

Thankfully the whole ordeal had lasted for just her first cycle, with no other problems in subsequent months.

“Elena,” her mother squeezed her hand, drawing her back to the present. “If you have sex, you'll be giving away your power – literally. The man you sleep with will take on your magic and you will be left barren of it. You will no longer have any powers and you will never be able to get them back.”
 

“It's sort of like, when Arwen in
Lord Of The Rings
gives up her immortality to be with the man she loves...” She looked down at Karl. His grin was gone.

“You're a beautiful person, Elena, and you deserve a man you love. It may be worth considering giving up your witchcraft for a lifetime of happiness … for a future family.”

“You think I haven't considered it?” she smiled, sadly. “To lead a normal life … and then I think about someone else having this magic inside them and what a huge responsibility it would be. I grew up with it – I was prepared for it – someone else … how would they wield all this power? I barely can. There are rules they'd have to follow, entire scripts they'd have to learn … I'd be changing them forever; Karl, I'd be tearing their lives apart. How can I do that to someone … how could I do that to you?”

She hadn't meant to cry, but there they were, those tiny, salty rivers carving their way down her face.

Karl kissed her knee. His hands were rubbing her thighs in comfort and not for the first time, she cursed her life – cursed that she couldn't just sit back and give into this, relax into another man's affections.

“You shouldn't do this to yourself,” she whispered, tasting her tears on her lips now. “I don't know how you can stand it, being around me all the time, knowing how you feel about me, knowing what you can never have...”

“Ssshhh, baby, it's all right.” He got up, shuffled onto the sofa beside her and draped her legs over his lap. “I know you, Elena – better than anyone. I know what you can and can't do, in every area of your life. I know you suck at gardening
—
”

She snorted.

“But if you ever decide that you've had enough, that you no longer want your magical nature, I'm here. I've seen what your powers can do, hell, I've even helped you with a few spells – you can trust me with them.”

She studied him, letting herself drown in the blue of his eyes, something she almost never did, ever since her mother had had the sex talk with her. He really was beautiful. She found herself reaching out and stroking his cheek.

“Are you gay?”

“What?
Gay?
”

His confusion quickly turned to irritation – he actually looked a little pissed off. Elena tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle at his expression. It wasn't often that Karl was caught off guard.

Catching her eye again, he raised an eyebrow. “You think I'm
gay?
”

“I wondered just once, a long time ago
—
”

He grabbed her hips and pulled her down onto her back. His grin turned wicked as he pinned her to the sofa with the weight of his body. Her laughter died in her throat and for a moment, there was only Karl, his eyes dancing like the waves of the sea, his hair the colour of a golden beach. His nose brushed hers, her lips parted, he leaned down
—
 

Beep … beep … beeeeeeeeeep.

They froze, then Karl winked – the moment was gone.

“Pork's done.”

~*~

Down on the street below, a shadow solidified. It took on the shape of a man, tall and muscular. But he was not a man. His cracked face, grey and hard like stone was turned towards a window two storeys up, his eyes – the clearest green you'll ever see – completely focused on the activities on the other side of the window.

If his solid body could grow harder still, it did. Rage shone in his emerald eyes.

How dare he – how dare he touch what's mine.

Somewhere, a dog barked. He silenced it with his mind, his thoughts strangling the animal until only a pitiful whimper travelled the air. There – he felt better now.

His body began to fade away once more. He could never stay in this world for too long at a time, but before he became one with the shadows again, he breathed out a tiny word, making sure it clung to the air as the breeze carried it to the window that shielded him from the witch –
his
witch...

“Elena...”
 

Chapter Two

She stared at the pen on her bedside table. Karl was the only other person that knew about it. She'd considered telling her mother, but they really weren't that close, and besides, she hadn't got her head around it yet. She wanted to be sure of what to do with it when others finally knew of its existence.

Letting out a sigh, her mind took her back to dinner. She had to hand it to Karl, that was a truly delicious roast … and then she was thinking about his lips...

Get over it! It's not something that can ever happen!

Confusion skirted over her thoughts. She really hadn't believed she was in love with him … could it be that all this time she'd just been kidding herself? She didn't like the way her heart was already beating faster at the thought of their near kiss earlier that night. They should never have bought a place together, but it had seemed so logical. They were best friends, they had always done everything together. So why not live together too? After all, he knew everything about her – she wouldn't have to run around ragged trying to hide everything witchy about her.

She looked again at the pen. Not for the first time, she considered what would happen, what would her life be like, if she had the gall to write a few selfish words...

Elena discovered that all these years, her curse had been false

and she could, in fact sleep with anyone she wanted, at any time,

with no magical consequences … she could fall in love.

God, it was so tempting … but it still wouldn't solve the fact that he'd be bound to, not just her, but her entire lineage – a responsibility she wasn't prepared to put upon him. But … what would life be like if he were also a witch?

He finally told her his secret:

he, too, was a great magician with unmatched super powers.

He would be her equal – it would be so much easier. Not that she didn't consider him her equal in every other way.

With a last sigh at her ridiculous notions, she pulled her T-shirt over her head and stripped her Levi's from her legs. Snuggling down under her duvet she took one last look at the pen that sat atop her open notebook, then she reached out and turned the light off.

~*~

“Elena ...”
 

Her name reached her as a whisper on the cool autumn breeze.

“Elena ...”
 

Forcing her sleepy eyes open, she looked around for the voice that called to her, expecting to find herself in her bedroom, maybe Karl at the doorway, trying to get her attention. But she was not in her bedroom. Suddenly alarmed, she sat up straight with a gasp. She was still in her bed, but this was nowhere she'd been before. The floor was gritty with sand and dust, an arid red; the room was not a room, but a cave of some kind. Cream coloured, stone walls greeted her, with candles lighting them in various places, flickering orange in the darkness that surrounded her.

Okay … so I'm still in my bed … so, this must be a dream … I hope...

“Elena...”
 

Her heart hammered in her chest, almost drowning out her thoughts.

If this is a dream, then it's okay to ask who's there, right?

“Who are you?”

Silence greeted her, and an unearthly breeze rippled her bedsheets – not the cool breeze of autumn, but hot and humid, as if a dragon was breathing on her. Beads of sweat began to form behind her neck – this was magic, but not the good kind.

“Elena...”
The voice was directly behind her now and her name fluttered against her ear. She spun around, trying to keep her fear reined in and failing when she came face to face with a man, seemingly made out of stone, his face cracked like an old, dry pavement, his eyes the clearest, sharpest green she'd ever seen – inhuman –
a demon
.

She wanted to scream, but her throat couldn't work the sound out. She tried to move, but her body suddenly seemed like stone itself, heavy and cumbersome. And the demon sat at the edge of her bed. With a grey, cracked finger, he stroked her cheek. A shudder vibrated through her still body.

“Sweet Elena, do you like my gift?”

“G-gift?”

“A magic pen – a powerful pen for a powerful witch.”

“It's – it's yours?” Her throat felt as dry as the cave floor – her words, barely audible, hurt her every time she spoke.

“No, my beautiful witch, it's yours.”

His fingers travelled down her neck. She wanted to smack him, hit him, at the very least swat his hand away, but the back of her neck was burning in warning of the black magic he exuded and she could not move. She could barely shudder, but another one managed to snake its way down her spine.

His fingers stopped at the swell of her breasts and trailed across the edge of her bra. To her horror, her skin began to tingle where he touched her and a warmth spread between her legs.

No!

Her brain suddenly kicked into action and she focused her intent fully on the outcome she desired. She forced her throat to work.
“Saepio, saepio, saepio...”
 

The demon laughed. “Your barriers won't work against me, Elena – you have no idea what I am.”

“Saepio, saepio, saepio...”
 

No, the barrier wasn't working, but her body was loosening up, her senses were returning, her throat becoming less dry...

His hand snaked its way around her waist.

“I'm going to show you how to use your new gift.” And then she was flush against the length of him, his cheek against hers, his voice a deadly whisper in her ear …
“I'm going to fill you with my world.”
 

Her throat felt normal again, and finally, the scream that had been lodged inside her erupted, and shook the walls of the demon's lair, even as everything faded around her.

~*~

Karl had never been a deep sleeper, but never in his life had anything brought him out of slumber so quickly as the ear-splitting scream coming from Elena's room.

His heart leapt right up into his throat as he dove for his door and half ran, half stumbled down the hall. He'd never heard her scream before, not like this, and once again he found himself overwhelmed by the very essence of her – only this time it was her fear he felt – and Elena never got scared.

He bouldered his way into her room to find her sitting up, tangled in her sheets and tearing at air.

“Elena!”

Did she see him? She seemed to be looking at something...

“Elena! Wake up!”

The look on her face almost had him frozen to the spot, but his practical nature always bested him, and he grabbed her shoulders instead, trying to shake her into full alertness. The woman was rigid under his hands, so he tried a different approach. Collecting her into his arms, he planted a tender kiss on her forehead and rubbed her back, speaking softly, “Elena, honey, everything's all right. It's me – it's Karl.”

She was burning hot, her skin tacky with sweat, but she blinked.

Yes. We're getting somewhere.

“Elena, it's okay ... everything's okay...”

He rocked her in his arms, back and forth.

“Wake up, baby. Wake up...”

She blinked again and turned her head. “K-Karl?”

“Yes, it's me … are you all right?”

She looked skittishly at her surroundings, then surrendered into his arms, her breaths coming out sharp and quick.

“What happened?”

“There was … something was here...”

He frowned at her open window. Did she mean that someone was actually
in
here?

As if reading his mind, she shook her head. “No. It was a like a dream … but it wasn't a dream.”

She paused and seemed unsure of what to say next.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don't know. I...”

She looked at him – looked right into his eyes with her own hazel ones. Up until now it hadn't even occurred to him that they were holding each other wearing not a hell of a lot, and he forced his mind away from the fact.

A slight smile touched her lips. “I like your eyes – I like that they're so blue...” And then her smile disappeared, she looked away and shuddered. His practical self won through yet again, and he used the opportunity to untangle her sheets and draw them up around her – for his sake more than hers. She shot him a grateful glance.

“It was a demon. I think he was in this room, or at least, his shadow was. He seeped into my mind as I was dreaming.”

“A demon?”

Nothing about Elena or the life she led should surprise him any more, but he'd never heard her mention demons at all in the past, so here he was, once again taken aback.

“I don't know much about them. There are text books and stuff, but my teachers never concentrated on the demon worlds so much … guess I'd better get researching.”

“A
demon
? I don't know what to say … how do you know it was a demon?”

“Instinct, I guess … and he looked kind of … demonic. Oh, God ...”

“What?”

“The pen … he said it was his gift to me.”

They both looked at the pen that sat atop her nightstand.

“Do you believe him?”

She shrugged. “I have no reason not to, I mean … the pen just appeared one day out of nowhere.”

“So you think he planted it for you to find?”

“I suppose he did, and I'd better find out why fast, because I don't think this was a one-off visit. Karl? Karl – what is it?”