Wicked Magic (10 page)

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Authors: Cheyenne McCray

BOOK: Wicked Magic
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It wasn't doing a whole heck of a lot of good. Nothing was.
Each night, the Elvin witch made a sleeping brew from
rose petals, myrtle leaves, and vervain, along with a good dose of her magic. It was supposed to chase away nightmares as well as help her sleep.
She'd slept okay. The nightmares, though … Because of the magical brew she shouldn't have had them, but somehow she was sure she had. It was driving her out of her mind not being able to remember her dreams of the last two nights. Just vague images remained when she woke.
What had happened that day she'd fallen into the vision … Rhiannon shuddered. It was like something had shattered her mind. Ever since, she hadn't been able to vision anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip. When she tried, her head ached so badly she had to get a mug of Cassia's healing draught. It did bring some relief—but not as much as it should have. Cassia was keeping a large pot of it brewing at all times.
Rhiannon stared at the warding bells above the kitchen door, but they blurred as she fell into her thoughts. What if she didn't take Cassia's nighttime brew? What if she let herself experience the nightmares? Maybe they were the key to unlocking whatever it was that had happened to her.
“Rhi.
Rhiannon.
” Sydney's voice barely registered as she squeezed Rhiannon's shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Rhiannon took a deep breath, then let out a slow exhale as she looked up at her friend, who was standing over her. Rhiannon shifted in her seat. “Just a headache. The usual.”
A headache that made her want to puke and pass out and not wake for at least a month.
Sydney's mouth pinched in obvious concern. “I think you'd better take it easy and stop trying so hard.”
Rhiannon rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. “I need to do something, Syd. I can't just let this go. I've got to figure out what happened, and I've got to find out what Ceithlenn is doing.”
Bless it!
Like always, the mention of the evil goddess's name sent a fresh bolt of pain through Rhiannon's head and she shuddered. All of this had to have something to do with Ceithlenn.
Rhiannon's hands shook as she clasped her mug again and brought it to her lips. After she took another swig, Sydney squeezed her shoulder tighter. “Come on. I think you need to lie down.”
Rhiannon wanted to argue, but she just didn't have it in her. She swallowed the rest of the healing draught then let Sydney take her by the hand to help her stand. That freaking dizziness caused her to sway and she clenched Sydney's hand tighter.
Sydney held onto Rhiannon as they walked toward the doorway leading out of Enchantments' kitchen and into the café and New Age shop, which was filled with people today. The chatter and even the beep of the cash register only served to make Rhiannon's headache worse.
Chaos and Spirit followed at their heels. The Doberman put his wet nose against Rhiannon's calves as if supporting her, too. Spirit only hissed twice at the dog familiar.
“You look pale,” Sydney said as she brought Rhiannon along with her through the store.
“I'm fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.” Rhiannon ground her teeth. “I've got to be fine. There's too much to do.”
“Let us worry about that,” Sydney said as they passed a display of candles. Rhiannon caught the scents of cherry, cinnamon, and gardenia.
“I don't like this at all.” Rhiannon looked at her pretty friend. “This isn't me. I'm not a weak person. I don't rely on others. I take action. I don't sit around and
wait
.”
They passed two customers and Sydney pushed open the door leading out onto the sidewalk. The warding bells that usually tinkled so happily made Rhiannon's head feel like a small explosion was going off inside of it.
The afternoon light hit her full in the face and she squinted. Her skin tingled and she knew if she stayed out much longer she'd get a sunburn.
Sydney squeezed her hand. “You need rest. Then everything will come together.”
Rhiannon sighed as they strode toward the apartment building. “It better. Soon.”
The moment they reached the door to the building, Keir came up beside them—apparently just having returned from scouting. He folded his wings away. Even though she knew it was magic, Rhiannon was still always amazed when they did that. Fresh breezes accompanied his male scent as he stepped over to her from the opposite side of Sydney.
“Godsdamnit, woman.” In a motion that caught her completely off guard, Keir swept her up in his large arms. She cried out and automatically clung to him so she wouldn't fall. “You need rest. I can see it in your face and in your eyes.”
“You big jerk.” She pounded one fist on his solid chest, against the soft cotton of his T-shirt. “Put me down.”
Of course he ignored her. Rhiannon looked to Sydney for assistance but her friend had the hint of a smile on her face. “Get some rest, girl. You'll be okay.”
“You're a lot of help,” Rhiannon grumbled to Sydney before Keir carried her into the building and up the stairs toward her apartment.
When they reached it, Rhiannon used a small dose of magic to unlock the door. Keir didn't say a word, just carried her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. He was so gentle for such a big, gruff warrior. He slid each of her sandals off, then tucked her sheets and a light blanket around her. When he finished he studied her face.
For a long moment they looked at each other. Rhiannon just didn't know what to think about this man. Powerful, possessive, arrogant, commanding most of the time. But then this softer side showed itself to her. Gentle, caring, concerned.
What was she supposed to do with a man like this?
To her surprise, he picked up a matchbook and lit the large two-wick blue candle beside her bed. Blue for healing, spirit, peace, and calm. The scent of blueberries pervaded the room as the candle wicks started to hiss and spit and melt the wax. Blueberry-scented candles were also for protection.
After Keir lit the candle and put out the match, he set the matchbook aside. He looked back to her for a long moment, and she couldn't say a thing. She felt lost in his dark eyes, eyes that held her, trapped her.
Before she realized what he was doing, he leaned close and she held her breath as his mouth neared her own. He lightly pressed his warm lips to hers then drew away. “Be well,” he said as he stroked his knuckles over the scars on her cheek.
She leaned into his touch and stared up at him. His eyes held hers for several seconds. Maybe a minute. Maybe a lifetime.
He drew his hand away. After one more breathtaking look, he turned and walked out the door.
Rhiannon stared after Keir for a long time, until her thoughts blurred, her eyelids grew droopy, and darkness swept her away.
Keir trudged up to the electrical room where he had continued to sleep since he had arrived in San Francisco. Unlike his normally clear mind, his thoughts were jumbled, alternately filled with fury at Ceithlenn and the Fomorii, frustration at not being able to locate them, and concern for Rhiannon.
Not to mention anger at his sonofabitch of a half-brother. Keir clenched his fists at his sides as he walked toward his room. Once again he and Hawk had ended up shouting at each other over how they should work to locate the Fomorii. If it was not one godsdamn thing it was another.
But Rhiannon … His thoughts turned back to her and his gut twisted. His concern for her bordered on obsession.
I must be mad.
When he opened the door to the electrical room, he saw Galia hovering in midair, curled on her side asleep even as her wings beat in time with the rise and fall of her chest.
Guilt lay like a heavy weight in Keir's gut. He had not taken her with him as many times as he should have, and he had mostly left her alone in this empty room. He had brought her food, trinkets, and tiny books from Enchantments that Cassia had given him. The half-Elvin witch hadn't said a word, just put the books into his hands along with some pretty trinkets. There was something about Cassia …
Galia loved the books, and the sparkling crystals Cassia
had sent delighted the Faerie to no end. With the cloths and other items Keir continued to bring her, she had made herself a pretty little place in one corner of the room to play with her things. When she was bored she begged Keir to take her places and he usually did.
But leaving her in this room so often—it brought an ache to his heart. It reminded him too much of his own childhood, where he had been relegated to sleeping in the barn when his half-brother Hawk had stayed in the family home. As the bastard son, Keir had grown up feeling lonely and he did not like the thought that Galia might feel the same way.
When he closed the door behind him, the Faerie opened her sleepy eyes and gave him a bright smile. She straightened at once. “Keir! Have you come to take me flying with you?”
He had planned to watch over Rhiannon while she slept, but it would not hurt to let the Faerie fly with him for a while. He knew exactly where he would take her this time.
“Come.” He opened the door leading out into the corridor and Galia gave him a questioning look.
“You always make me hide in something,” she said as she came up to hover near his face.
“No more hiding,” he said in a gruff voice. “Except from humans.”
The Faerie gave a delighted squeal that made Keir wince. She clasped her hands together and bobbed up and down. “Really? Truly?”
Keir did not answer, simply held the door open to allow her to fly beside him.
“I cannot believe it.” She zipped to and fro, making him dizzy with her movements. “You are so sweet, Keir.”
He narrowed his gaze at her and scowled. “I am
not
‘sweet.'”
She grinned. “You are. You just like to hide it beneath all that grouchiness.”
Keir chose to ignore her and climbed up to the rooftop of the apartment building to the small garden. He was relieved they did not pass any of the other D'Danann. He was not sure how he was going to explain Galia's presence.
He welcomed the freedom and exhilaration of his wings unfurling from his back. With a single flap he took to the air and vanished from human sight, Galia zipping ahead of him.
It did not take long to reach the place he had never shown her before. The search for the Fomorii had been concentrated in the downtown part of San Francisco.
Ocean breezes hit him full in the face, and Galia's gasp carried to him on the wind.
Water stretched out before them, so far that no land could be seen from where they flew.
Galia seemed stunned into silence for the moment, which in itself was an amazing thing. Keir touched down on the small, sacred stretch of beach the D'Anu witches used for many of their rituals. He folded away his wings and Galia hovered beside him.
“What is it?” she said, her eyes wide with wonder. “So much water and it's so pretty.”
“The ocean.”
She looked at Keir. “I have heard of such large bodies of water in Otherworld, but I never thought to see anything like it.” She sighed, her expression one of complete delight.
Waves crashed against the shore and the sound of the ocean was like a living thing. It smelled clean and nearly free of the pollutants that marred the beautiful city behind them. Nothing would compare to Otherworld, but this place came close.
Galia darted down and landed on the sand. She laughed and wiggled her tiny toes, then bent over and scooped up handfuls of sand and let it slip through her fingers.
“I love it!” She kicked sand into the air then plopped her naked ass onto a smooth section of the beach, close to the water's edge.
A larger wave rose, just feet from Galia. Before it crashed down on the Faerie, Keir scooped her up in his hand. Water splashed both of them and he growled as he tossed back his head to get his now-wet hair out of his face.
“You must be more careful,” he told her with a scowl.
Galia grinned up at him. “Can we do that again?”
Rhiannon slipped from wakefulness to dreams and back again. Strange images pervaded her subconscious that she couldn't quite reach. Whenever she came close, a flash of white light would blind her dream eyes and then it would all start over again.
But there were also the dreams she'd had since she was a child—a woman shoving her, pushing her. Falling and crying out. Then an explosion before blackness shrouded her.
Again she would go back to the strange images and flashing white light.
When Rhiannon gradually came awake, she tried to hold on to a thread of a thought, but it dissolved like every other one had.
For a while she stared up at the ceiling she'd painted bright pink. The trim was white and she liked the contrast from the yellow of one wall to the pink of her ceiling.
The blueberry-scented candle had burned low. She pushed herself to a sitting position and stared at the flame that caused shadows to dance on her walls. She looked at the dark billowy shapes in her bedroom and memories came back to her of the times she would play with the Shadows. They had been her playmates, her friends, until Aunt Aga …
Rhiannon's heart raced a little faster.
Shadows … She swallowed hard. She remembered being afraid to go to sleep at night wondering what would happen if the Shadows inside her released themselves while she slept. Right now, those dancing black shapes could well be the things that were supposed to be hidden inside her. What if they hurt someone while she was sleeping?
Right now, though, the Shadows were still inside her and those on the walls were merely a result of flickering candlelight. She could feel their presence within like dark energy balled up tight.
She rubbed her forehead and was surprised to find her thoughts clear and her head free from pain. Unless she thought of the C-word, that goddess's name, and then her
head would ache. So she kept her thoughts focused on the here and now.
And right now she was hungry.
Rhiannon slipped out of bed, her stomach growling its agreement. She was still dressed in the same short purple cotton skirt and berry red top, only they were all wrinkled from sleeping in them. She glanced at the clock to see it was eleven P.M. No wonder she was hungry—she hadn't eaten since lunch. But she was pretty sure her own refrigerator was empty.
There was bound to be something in the common room, though, since Jake had installed two big refrigerators that the witches kept stocked just for the D'Danann. Could those warriors eat!
Spirit materialized from nowhere—Silver always said he was like a ghost, and Rhiannon had to agree. The cat ran circles around her ankles and meowed, and she wondered what he wanted.
She yawned, slipped on her sandals, and walked through her bedroom doorway. Her house was almost completely dark, but she could make out the shapes of her furniture well enough from what little light came in through the windows. Besides, she knew her way through her own apartment with or without light—
Her ankle hit something hard and solid. She lost her balance and pitched forward, giving a small cry as she prepared to hit the floor.
Just before her face met wood, large hands grabbed her upper arms and stopped her. Even before he pulled her onto his lap and into a chair, she knew it was Keir.
“Bless it, Keir.” She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he held her tight. She could barely make out his harsh features in the dim light as he engulfed her with his embrace.
“What are you doing up,
a stór?
” he asked in his usual rough voice.
“What are
you
doing in
my
apartment?” She had tripped over his legs. She tried to pull away from him. “You almost made me fall flat on my face.”
“Where were you going?” Damn him and that possessive, commanding voice.
She narrowed her eyes. “None of your business.”
He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “You are my business, my little treasure.”
His words sent thrills from her belly to that place between her thighs. The heat of his body burned through her clothing and his scent was intoxicating.
From the time she'd tripped over him she'd been tense, but now all she wanted to do was relax. She allowed herself to sink into him, to feel comfort in his embrace. She couldn't think beyond the moment and for some reason that was okay. It was the here and now that was important. Why, she didn't know.
And right now she didn't care.
She relaxed her head against his shoulder and looked up at him. His dark eyes glittered in the dim light, fierce as always, but when she tilted her head back, his features softened. He slipped one of his hands behind her head and played with the hair at the nape of her neck. With his other hand he stroked her face.
“How are you feeling?” His face was so close to hers she felt his warm breath on her lips.
Rhiannon sighed. “Right now I'm feeling really,
really
good.” And bless it if she wasn't. Her whole body tingled and crazy sensations moved from her belly to her nipples, and down to her pussy.
She thought she saw the hint of a smile on his lips, but maybe she just imagined it.
Either way she wanted him to kiss her. After all this time fighting her attraction to him, she didn't want to anymore. She
wanted
him and it was time she admitted it and did something about it.
When he simply continued stroking her hair at her nape, she reached up and slid her arms around his neck. And pulled his face down to meet hers.
She felt his hesitation as she ran her tongue along the seam of his lips then gently bit his lower lip.
He groaned and opened his mouth to her and their tongues met. Thrill after thrill rolled through Rhiannon's belly. He'd kissed her three times before—she remembered every one of them so clearly that more warmth moistened her folds. Two times his kisses had been demanding and possessive, and she had to admit she'd loved the way he'd taken control, the way he'd made her feel. Those kisses had been filled with fire and excitement.
But now … goddess the kiss was so sweet. This one was a gentle exploration that made her body tingle from head to toes.
She felt his erection grow where she was cradled in his lap. Her nipples tightened, and her breasts ached.
Her
kiss grew more demanding as she pulled him closer to her, locking her fingers around his neck.
Keir broke away with a groan and she whimpered. She needed this. Needed
him.
“Gods.” His voice was hoarse and the look on his face was tortured. She wondered why his hands weren't roaming her body, possessing her like he had before.
“What's wrong?” She nipped at his lower lip and he groaned again.
“You have been ill,” he said and his Irish brogue caused her stomach to twist. He shifted her on his lap as if to ease the pressure of her ass on his erection and she felt the sheer length and width beneath her. The jeans he was wearing had to be even more confining than the leather he normally wore.
“I feel fine right now.” She slid one of her hands from behind his head to his arm and rubbed it, feeling the bulge of his biceps through the cotton of his T-shirt. She skimmed her fingers down through the hairs on his arm to his strong hand. She wrapped her fingers around his. “I feel
really
fine.”
A rumble rose in his chest that vibrated against her. “Rhiannon—”
“Take me to bed.” She kissed him and drew away. “Please don't wait.”

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