Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (29 page)

“I’m thinking some potion from a witc
h, or some dark object he has in his possession
”
said Niall.

“And you didn’t think of that before we walked in?” Rafe asked angrily. 

“
Weel
, it takes a lot of power to hold a
fae
.  It would be almost impossible to obtain the right object, or find a witch with the knowledge he needed,” Niall answered slowly.

“I’d say the almost impossible is now possible,” Robert said scornfully.

Rafe sighed, “Okay,
let’s
move on.  I’ve already tried breaking these chains.  They seem to be held together by magic and not just steel.”

“I tried too,
but
I can’t get loose,” Niall said. 

“I didn’t mention it earlier, but when we were in the woods, Lisa contacted me, telepathically.  I told her to get out, basically, and built a wall in my head.  I’m going to see if I can contact her now.  If this is strong magic, maybe her magic can break this,” Rafe said. 

“Let’s hope you didn’t piss her off too much and she’ll answer
yer
call,” Robert said. 

Rafe snorted, closing his eyes.  He sent a mental picture out to her.  He was remembering the other picture he’d sent her before, then cut that thought off immediately.  She’d think he was teasing her unless he got his shit together. 

He thought the best way would be to convey that they needed help.  He sent the image of them chained in the dungeon, then asked for her help.

“We’ll never hear the end of it if Lisa has to rescue us,” Robert said morosely. 
 

Nibbling at her salad, Lisa had a sudden sense of urgency from Rafe.  She jumped up and ran to the great room, with Melissa following.

“What’s wrong?  What is it?” Melissa asked, frightened. 

Seeing Ian and Devlin still in the living room, Lisa ran
up to them
and
started tugging at their arms
.

“I think Rafe needs me.  I feel like he’s calling to me.  Hurry.  Let’s go to the pond.  He needs me,”
Lisa was almost desperate.  She still had enough sense to know she shouldn’t go to the pond alone. 

They all hurried out the door, running to the pond.  She knew she would need the magic in the water.
  Closing her eyes, she moved as fast as she could through the mist.  Seeing a picture of the men chained up, she flinched.

“They’re chained to a wall.  I’m going to try
to
talk to Rafe to find out what we can do.”

Rafe felt her enter his head.  Thank God, she got his message.

‘
Ciar used some sort of magic on us to put us here.  Robert and Niall’s powers are bound.  They can’t flash us out of here.  I need you to see if you can break the magical hold
that
he has on us.  If this hurts you in any way, stop immediately.  We’ll figure something else out.
’

Lisa quickly
pulled the magic from the water.  Concentrating on the men, seen through
Rafe’s
eyes, she sent her magic flowing towards Robert and Niall.  Looking down, she sent another two bolts to
Rafe’s
legs and arms. 
She could feel her magic vibrating against the dark magic.  She needed more power!  She reached out to Melissa, grabbing her hand.  Melissa understood.  She started channeling more magic into Lisa.  Pushing all she could towards the men, she saw their chains fall away.  Lisa collapsed on the ground, exhausted. 

Before they could grab her, Robert, Niall, and Rafe appeared before them.  Rafe reached for Lisa and lifted her in his arms. 

“What happened to her?” he demanded, worried. 

Melissa answered.  “It took all her power and then some to release the three of you.”

Rafe hurried to the house and placed her on the sofa. 

“I’m all right, really.  That took a little more energy than I had in me,” she said, trying to reassure him. 

“I’m so sorry, I’ll never ask for your help with magic again,” Rafe said regretfully. 

“That would be dumb.  So I’m a little tired, no big deal.  I saved your ass.  And you two also,” she said glancing at Robert and Niall.

“I knew she would point that out,” Robert said smiling at her.  “Thank
you,
lass, you did save us.”

Niall nodded his thanks to her. 

“I want to know what happened,” Ian said.  “After you put Lisa to bed.”

“I’m staying right
here.
I want to hear it to.”

Knowing there was no way she would agree to go to bed,
they called Dunstan and Anna in to hear what had happened. 

After explaining how Ciar had imprisoned them, Rafe told them they hadn’t learned anything useful. 

“Actually you did,” said Devlin.  “Now I have something to go on when I start my research.  We know a lot about witches, but I’ll still dig deeper.  What’s interesting is if he’s using some object to gain more power.  I’ll start looking into the old records and see if anything pops.  Also, now we know we need something to counteract him freezing any of us.  We would not have been prepared for that before.”
 

“I’ll send Niall to see the Queen.  She may know what he’s using and how to fight against it,” Robert said.

Niall immediately stood, saying he’d get back as soon as possible.  He shimmered and was gone. 

“Um, I was able t
o break his magic,” Lisa said shrugging.  “Just saying.”

“And we appreciate it, but you won’t be fighting him.  I don’t want him anywhere near you.  Devlin or Niall will figure something out,” Rafe said. 

“I hope they do, but don’t be stubborn.  If I can help, I will.  You cannot expect me to stand by if he attacks any of you,” Lisa insisted.  “I may not be known for my bravery, well,
let’s
face it, I
’
m a big chicken.  But I won’t stand by if I can help.”

They all laughed at her statement, relieving some of the tension in the room.
 

Rafe was thinking about locking her up somewhere, but that was just a fantasy.  He hoped it wouldn’t come to her having to use her magic again, but he was afraid it was
already
fait accompli.

“I’m pretty
tired.
If
everyone will excuse me, I’m going to shower, then bed.  Goodnight,” Lisa said leaving the room. 

She really was tired.  Using mag
ic that
way,
had taken everything out of her.  She rushed through her shower, just wanting to fall into bed.  Quickly brushing her teeth,
she was in bed and asleep within five minutes. 
She was unaware when
later,
Rafe
got into the bed
, tucking himself around her.

Once
again,
Lisa woke up
alone in bed.  Glancing over at the alarm clock, she was surprised to see
it was after eleven am.  Boy, I really was tired.  She lay there a moment, staring up at the ceiling.

Am I ready to move here, commit to Rafe for the rest of my life
? 
Her answer was easier than she thought it’d be. 
Yes, I am.  Counting back to Friday
, she realized she had known him now for five days. 
The time doesn’t matter, s
he understood now.  It made
sense
to her
why Colin and Stephanie married so quickly after meeting one another.

Throwing back the covers, she decided she needed another shower.  Last night she had rushed through it, just wanting to sleep.  Now she needed one to wake up.  Going into the bathroom
,
she changed her mind and ran the water for a bath.  The morning was alr
eady gone, so why not
indulge.

Lying back in the tub, she soaked her washcloth in hot water and placed it over her face.  That feels so nice.  She let her mind drift, relaxing.

“Lisa?” she heard Rafe call for her and sat up, the washcloth slipping from her face.  Oh crap, I didn’t close the door.  She quickly slipped under the bubbles, covering the important parts.

“I’m taking a bath, give me a couple minutes and I’ll be
right
out,” she yelled.

Too late, she looked up to see him standing in the doorway.  This was uncomfortable.  They hadn’t known each other long enough for her to be casual about her nakedness. 

“Um, I’ll be out in a second, if you want to wait in the bedroom.  Close the door behind you,” she said, slipping further under the water.

Grinning, he leaned casually against the door.  “Need any help?  I could wash your hair for you,” he said helpfully. 

Lisa gave him a baleful look.  “No, but thanks for the offer,” she said sarcastically.

   She stared at him, not moving until he stepped back and closed the door.  Whew, she sighed, relieved. 

“You know, you could have closed the door yourself.  That was one of the first things you learned, wasn’t it?” he asked. 

Crap,
she had
forgotten about that.  “Smart ass,” she muttered.

“I heard that,” he said, laughing. 

Of course he did.
  She quickly dried and got dressed.  Not wanting to take the time to dry her hair, she braided and flipped it over her shoulder. 
Leaving the bathroom, she saw him sitting in the chair by the window.  He had her paperback in his hands and seemed absorbed by it. 

“Good book
?
” she asked
sarcastically
.

“Actually, it is.  I’
ve never read romance novels
before.  I
’ve
always assumed it was wimpy men declaring their undying love,” he said grinning.

“Typical.
  So, what’s going on today?  Any plans?” she asked. 

Serious now, Rafe replied, “After you eat, Robert’s going to work on building up your magic.  After discussing it, we believe he wants you for your magic.  I don’t believe he’s after his children, or looking for his wife.”

“Oh yay, lucky me,” her face made a moue of distaste. 

 
“Lisa, everyone here will do all they can to protect you.  I have no intention of letting him get anywhere near you.”

“He may have originally been looking for Dunstan, but
he
found you also.  We won’t know until we can c
onfront
him and get him to talk,” Rafe told her.

What makes you think he’ll tell us?” she asked.

“Well, in the movies, the bad guys always want to brag on their cunningness,” he joked. 

“Yeah, right.  I’m sure we’ll get his evil plan out of him,” she told him sarcastically.
 

Rafe rose and pulled her closer to him.  He tightened his arms around her, never wanting anything to hurt her.  Lisa felt safe with him holding her.  If only they didn’
t have to deal with this crap.  She pulled away, time to man up.  I am not a wimp.  I can beat him.  She was mentally building up her confidence.

“Come on, we’ll go have some lunch before Robert
puts you to work
.”

Entering the kitchen, Rafe had her sit while he made her something to eat.  Robert and Melissa were sitting at the table, with him grinning and her glaring at him. 

“What is it with you two? 
Melissa looks like she want
s
to hit
you,” Lisa said. 

“Oh, Mr
.
God’s gift to women
was imparting his wisdom once again,” Melissa sniffed disdainfully.

“Not God’s gift lass, just the Queen’s,”
he said, winking at her. 

“
Okay,
children, let’s all try and get along,”
Rafe said, resigned. 

Melissa muttered under her breath while Robert tried to look innocent. 
Lisa was planning on pulling
Melissa aside later
and find out what was going on with these two. 

Robert started explaining what he wanted Lisa to work on while she ate.  She nodded in understanding.

“You need to be able to use
yer
magic and not leave
yerself
exhausted.  We’ll work on sending out small, but powerful bursts,” Robert told her. 

“I’m going to help you focus your mind.  I’ve learned over the years how to separate my visions so I’m not overwhelmed,” Melissa said.

“We’ll work in the back.  You won’t always have the pond available to draw more power.  You need to learn how to store up
yer
energy and conserve what you send out,” Robert said.