Ascension (3 page)

That was no idle threat. A sweep of pin-pricks chased across her back and down her arms, and a wave of fury swept over her, so intense that her magic retreated, bowing to Taig’s superior force of nature. As powerful as she was, she was no match for him when he was angry.

Taig rarely let his demonic side come out to play and she had only witnessed the gruesome aftermath when he had, but it had given her a glimpse of the devastation of which he was capable.

Lealandra didn’t need to see the true form he held locked beneath his skin for her to know that any decision he made was final and he was willing to resort to bloodshed to ensure that.

It was half the reason she had come to him.

The other half?

Lealandra looked down at her chest and the intricate mark between her breasts visible only to her. A circle within a circle about the size of her palm. Runic symbols filled the two black bands around the outside. Within the central circle were a series of patterns that marked her fate and the role specific things had to play in it. A little off centre within this circle was a mark she recognised. Her gaze drifted to Taig’s shoulder. Hidden beneath his black shirt on his left shoulder blade was the same mark. It wasn’t a tattoo. It was a brand of his demonic bloodline. A birthmark.

“So... you lost your partner and now some demons are out to kill you but you won’t pay the price for protection. You’ve got to have a pretty good reason for hunting me down if you’d already made up your mind to refuse my fee.” The cocky smirk was back, tugging at the dusky lips that knew her intimately, every inch of her.

Finger-length strands of his black hair criss-crossed his forehead, messy and seemingly out of control as always. The feel of the short back had been like silk beneath her fingers, bringing forth memories of raking her fingers through it, of clutching it tightly to keep his mouth fused with hers. His dark eyes narrowed on hers and his smile widened. Her heart thumped in her throat at that look—all hunger and need. He hadn’t changed a bit since she had last seen him. Still so handsome that he would never have a problem catching a girl with his otherworldly masculine beauty but still a loner who refused the company women offered him. Still a negotiator gunning for the right price before he would do anything but still itching for a fight so badly he would gladly hunt demons for sheer fun.

“I think I’d like to know that reason now.”

Before she had come out tonight, she had vowed to keep this hidden from him but now it might just be her trump card.

Taking hold of his hand, Lealandra ignored his raised eyebrow and moved towards him on the curved leather seat so she was within reach. She took a deep breath, held it and brushed his fingers across her chest. The mark there shimmered rich red and sparkled into life. The glow lit his face, dancing in his wide eyes.

“You’ve started the ascension,” Taig whispered with the barest glance into her eyes before his gaze fell to her chest again.

His hand left hers and he touched the ascension mark, tracing the circle with a light caress. Her breasts tingled and her nipples hardened against the black strapless corset top. She tried to ignore the delicious feel of his hands on her but it was impossible. It was Heaven to have him touching her again, even if it was only so he could see her mark.

His fingers paused against her, cool points on her burning skin.

Lealandra knew what had arrested his attention. “It’s your mark.”

Taig lowered his hand until his palm rested against her right breast, the weight of it making her ache for more as her mind raced forwards to imagine him removing her top and caressing her. She rolled her eyes closed at the thought of his lips latching onto one of her nipples and tugging on it, teasing it with his teeth. Her groin throbbed in response to the fantasy.

“And this is supposed to make me help you?” Emotionless and deadpan. His response was the exact opposite of what she had expected.

“In a few days, possibly less, I’ll be vulnerable, Taig. I need you to protect me. I’ll pay you with money, everything I have. It’s over twenty grand.” Her eyes searched his for any sign that he would take it. He had to help her.

The mark on her chest meant that he was going to play a role in her ascension. Without him, she might not make it through. It was rare for a witch to go through the ascension, a process in which their power matured and reached its maximum level, and even rarer for one to survive. Normally the power became too strong and seized control of its host, eventually destroying it. Lealandra didn’t want to die, not during the ascension, and not before it, and she knew that she would if Taig didn’t help her. 

“You know my price.” Taig’s flat expression gave her the distinct impression he wasn’t about to change it any time soon.

“Your price is too high.” Part of her again said that it wasn’t. She would do it, even if the ascension weren’t a factor.

Six years without him had been hollow and hellish, living day-to-day, stuck in the coven and doing nothing but learning or practicing. Not once had she needed to fight. It had been dull, empty, and she had grown so used to it that she had never realised. Not until now. She had missed him. Her time with Taig had been thrilling, and not just because of their passion. They had hunted together and the danger had been exciting, the battles of life and death exhilarating, adding to the way it had felt to be with him. She wanted that back. She wanted him back.

Taig caught hold of her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. His lips never left her as he kissed up her bare arm, drawing her towards him at the same time. Strands of his hair tickled her skin, a precursor to each kiss. Her eyelids fell to half-mast when he reached her shoulder and then his mouth was on her neck, feeding the fantasy unravelling in her heart and mind. Her breath left her on a sigh and she leaned her cheek against his, lost in the feel of his cool mouth devouring her throat in the most sensual of caresses. He bit lightly. She moaned and then got the better of herself and shoved him away.

“Too high.”

“You’re hungry,” Taig whispered with another smirk, a knowing look in his eyes. He dropped his gaze to his wrist and hers followed against her will. She swallowed when he idly ran his fingers over the scars on his arm. “Protection and a taste. That’s my offer. What’s yours?”

Damn him back to Hell.

Lealandra flicked her long hair back and glared at him. The bastard was leaving her little choice and it tore her up inside as her heart waged war against her mind.

It would be so easy for her to give in to her desire. The only thing stopping her was that she knew deep inside he was doing this, demanding this price, because he wanted to make her pay for leaving him, not because he really wanted her back. She had broken her heart once already. She couldn’t survive breaking it again.

Her grey gaze met his black and she narrowed her eyes on him. Power rose and spiralled through her, filling every inch of her body, awakened by the thought of his blood. Damn him. There was only one way to get out of the corner he had backed her into and buy herself the time to convince him to accept her method of payment instead. She loathed herself for giving in to him even when it was only temporary and pushed the word out through clenched teeth.

“Fine.”

T
aig grinned and leaned forwards, his hands coming up to claim his payment. Lealandra’s single raised finger stopped him in his tracks.

“Protection first. You’ll get your payment when you’ve done your job.”

He glared and clenched his fists. Anger raced through his veins at her denial, burning deep and fast in his blood, and Lealandra seemed to respond to it. Crimson tinted her eyes. He could feel the magic rising inside her. Every time she looked at his arm or he mentioned blood, her power spiked. Charlie was lucky he was dead. If he had been alive, Taig would have been heading out to find him and bash some sense into his thick head. He was a bastard for the number he had done on Lealandra by denying her what she needed to keep control and keep strong, and a son of a bitch for taking her away from him in the first place.

Taig reeled in his fury and forced himself to relax.

“Deal,” he said, too enticed by the thought of her being his again to care about the technicalities.

Lealandra had said it herself. It was a matter of days before she would go through the ascension. He had the scent of those demons now. He could kill them before she went through the change and see her safe. She had told him about the ascension several times, each time giving away a little more, until she had said enough for him to see that it frightened her. She feared dying during the ascension. Many paid with their life for their increase in power, even when their entire coven helped them. Her magic would become too strong for her to control. She needed her Counter-Balance, but someone had removed Charlie from the equation, plunging her into dangerous territory, making her desperate enough to turn to him for help.

Lealandra moved out of the booth, smoothing down the back of her long black skirt. The mark on her chest was no longer visible but he knew it wasn’t gone. A witch’s ascension mark was visible only to the carrier unless someone directly touched it. Fuck, it had felt good to lay his hands on her and he couldn’t help thinking up excuses to touch her again.

“My place or yours?” he said with a sly grin, his hunger returning as he imagined laying her out on his bed naked and begging. He had always loved it when she had begged. The sight of her writhing on his dark covers, her slender legs rubbing together, fingers twirling the silken threads of her black hair around them as she waited for him was one of his favourite memories of her, seared on his mind for eternity.

“Yours.” Her response caught him off guard and the smile dropped from his face. It had been a joke.

“Shouldn’t you be heading to the coven?” Taig stood, a frown knitting his black eyebrows. It was strange for her to stay away from other witches. When her ascension hit, he wouldn’t have a clue how to help her. She needed others like her around her. She needed to live.

Taig could deal with the demons and anyone else who wanted her dead, but he wasn’t sure what he could do to help her survive her ascension. He glanced at his scarred wrists. Could his blood give her enough control over her power? How much would she need? He had given her blood in the past but usually he was out of his mind with lust and desire and he wasn’t thinking straight. The thought of giving her blood turned his stomach. It was tainted. He didn’t want that inside her. He didn’t want it inside him.

“We are… but we’re not staying. I just want to get my things and then go to your place.”

Taig stared at her, studying the subtle changes in her expression and her body that gave away her fear. Why didn’t she want to stay at the coven? She had been with them for six years and she needed her kin right now. His frown intensified. Unless she had a reason not to remain with her coven. She had come to him and now wanted to go and get her things. It was all backwards. Only it wasn’t if she hadn’t been staying at the coven since Charlie’s death. That would make sense. She must have been staying somewhere else and, now that he had agreed to help her, she was going back to her apartment at the coven for her things. This was all messed up. Lealandra was powerful enough to handle herself and anyone at the coven. Why did she need him to go with her? A show of force to anyone who might be involved in this plot against her? Did she suspect the coven?

“You should stay with the coven.” He tested his theory.

“No.” Her flat tone made it clear that was the only answer he was going to get. She cast a quick glance around the dark bar. The few regulars that remained weren’t likely to be out to get her. He knew them well and knew where they lived. They wouldn’t dare hurt her. Her grey gaze skipped back to him. He didn’t like the edge of fear that lingered in it. That wasn’t his Lea. Someone had her running scared and he was going to beat the crap out of them for it. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Taig nodded and followed her towards the exit, his thoughts still lingering on the fact that she was keeping away from her kin. A niggling voice at the back of his mind said that she didn’t trust them. Did she think they had something to do with the demons that were out to kill her? Surviving the ascension was rare but the increase in the power of the ascended placed them above others, making it often the subject of envy among witches. Envious enough to kill?

It troubled him.

If the local coven were responsible, then he was going to have to be on his guard. Demons he could handle, but witches had a tendency to fight dirty and nothing drained his strength like the right spell or five.

Lealandra led the way out of the backstreet bar. The flickering blue neon sign reflected in the lingering puddles in the cracked asphalt. The city still smelt like rain from this morning’s storm, laced with an underlying trace of blood. Taig’s gaze shifted to Lealandra again. He had never tasted her but she had taken his blood enough times for him to know her on the inside. Demon blood ran in his veins, stained him. It filled his mind with lust for violence and his heart with darkness. His blood had mixed with Lealandra’s each time she had taken it into her, mingling with her power for a short spell, giving him insight into her innermost thoughts and feelings. Connecting them. A witch and a demon.

Taig clenched his fists until his short nails bit into his palms. A demon? Not quite. The progeny of both his father and mother. An aberration. Not belonging to this world or the underworld. One foot in each but no place in either. And no chance of finding that place. He deserved to stand alone and live between worlds. He didn’t deserve what Lealandra had given him all those years ago.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

His gaze snapped to Lealandra.

Warmth touched her eyes and the smile curving her soft lips pierced his heart and took him back six years. She had always looked at him like that. Open and accepting. With love.

Taig turned away and stared ahead. “I’d like to check out your place while we’re at the coven.”