Braving the Elements (15 page)

“Here goes,” I whispered.

I closed my eyes again, feeling the elements, feeling the current as it sucked toward Trek like undertow. The feeling slipped through my fingers like water in a stream, tickling my skin. My chest burned now, then my limbs, my power calling to that sweet essence.

I felt the box around me, visibly seeing, in my mind’s eye, the weaves and knots that created it. I picked it apart like a sewing stitch, watching it unravel and fall away. I drew in more power
, now feeling like insects crawling on my skin. Pure black power level, now, darker than night, sucking in light and turning it into energy. Still the power gathered near Trek.

“Reach for him now,” I heard.
Stefan’s voice seemed so far away. Floating on a distant breeze of magic, eddies and torrents separating the distance between the two of us. Except, I felt him within—loving support, bracing me to the here-and-now. Keeping me firmly rooted.

I did as
Stefan said, reaching, feeling the lesser power levels around me, and shooing them away like fruit flies. I found that boiling collection of magic an instant before it released, and put up a shield.

His power blast
ed into mine, two solid things colliding like rams in a mating dance. The sound thundered, shaking the building, knocking everyone off their feet. Except for me and Trek.

His eyes burned into mine, not working the elements, just sucking them in and throwing them at me. Dumb move, because that was about all
I could do, too. I dug in my feet magically and pushed, as hard as I could, the swirling magic of his attack spell inching back toward him.

“Suck it in, Sasha! Consume it. This place is collapsing.”

I heard distant metal clanging. The building roaring. Voices shouting and screaming. Still, I stared at those pale blue eyes, the sky seen through an overexposed picture. I could win this war of might, but it would take too long. Plus, if he grew some brains and stopped thinking with his testosterone, he’d realize all he had to do was switch it up a bit and I’d be lost.

Closing my eyes, hoping this wasn’t the end, I did as
Stefan said. I opened myself up, let go of the corporal world around me, and sucked with one painful, scorching draw.

Chapter
10

Why the hell was I always coming to out of a deep sleep? Was that my default in dangerous situations—passing out?

“What was that, love?”

Stefan sat at the edge of my bed, holding my hand. Bruises and gashes marred his handsome face, and cuts and scrapes gouged his body; but he was alive. I was alive.

“I
am
alive, right?” I clarified.

He smiled. “Yes, you saved the day.”

I chuckled then winced. My whole body felt unnaturally sensitive. “What happened after I took in the magic?”

“You passed out.” Charles sat in the corner, knitting needles thrashing out the finishing touches of the hideous scarf he
was making me.

“What happened to you?” I asked in a voice tinged with fear.

Half of Charles’s body had splatters of burn marks, like he’d dropped something heavy in liquid magma and it splashed out onto his skin. “I had to cut through that fucking—“

“Language,”
Stefan warned.

Charles sighed, but continued. “I had to cut through that
freaking
spell that Darla never taught us about. Andris has the same power level as me. It hurt. A lot.”

“He exacted his own penance for your capture,”
Stefan said mildly.

“Thanks, Boss,” Charles muttered.

Something passed between them, but since I wouldn’t be able to decipher it anyway, and Charles wouldn’t fill me in until Stefan left, I skipped ahead. “How am I alive after sucking in that much magic? I feel like Charles looks, only on the inside.”

Charles snorted.

Stefan brushed hair off of my face, and then laid his palm flat to my cheek. “I balanced it. Tempered it, you might say. Everyone has a unique strength with magic. Mine has always been orchestrating the flow, whether in myself or others. With enemies, it allows me to direct it in hard to work places in the body, lessening their ability. In you, I was able to fill up every square inch of your beautiful body, balancing the abundance. It was close, I’m not going to lie to you—I took a great risk that I’m not proud of—but I could see no other way.”

I couldn’t help but stare. “I did not know any of that was even possible.”

“There is a lot you don’t know. Which is why I have requested a master trainer. With your power level, they cannot say no.”

I groaned, letting my head fall back. “I need a break from magic. My body hurts.
Again.”

Stefan
smiled, a sight that had my heart pattering and my groin tightening. “Of course.”

“So,
aside from your heroics with magic usage, how did we get out of that building?” I pushed.

Stefan
bent to my lips and carefully kissed me. He backed off and stood. “I’ll let Charles explain. I need to see to the wounded. I’ll check in later.” He winked, and then was off.

When it was just Charles and me
, I said, “Well?”

“I hope you don’t plan to be grouchy. I’ve had a bad couple of days and I’m not in the mood for your sass.”

“My days haven’t been any better.”

“Yes, but I am the man, and men suffer more thoroughly than women.
Everyone knows this.”

“
So, I just ask you if that’s true, right?”

“Exactly.
We know better, and we suffer more. Facts.”

“That scarf is ugly.”

“We also have better taste.”

I couldn’t help a laugh. “Please tell me?”

Click, click, click.

He sighed, loving to make me wait.
“Well, first you stole everyone’s magic in the whole room. That idiot in the cape stared at you like a spoiled little brat who had his candy stolen. He ran, of course. Cowardly little bitch. You collapsed, as you do; so, the Boss lost his mind, as he does. He sliced and gouged Andris, nearly had him beat, before the building started to collapse. You almost got smooshed, which stopped the Boss’s fight right quick. Andris let the Boss have you as he ran after the man in the costume.”

“The man in the costume?”

“The caped moron—keep up. Right, so now the Boss has his prize. His men—us—have a victory nearly at hand, and the danged ceiling comes tumbling down. It turned out to be a narrow miss. With just a trickle of magic, and whatever he must have siphoned off you in your link, the boss had to blast his way out of a wall, hand you off to me, and get all his people out of there. He very nearly went down with the ship.”

“
Stefan almost died?” I whispered, fear and sorrow at the possibility choking me.

“That’s his duty—make sure his people are safe. He wouldn’t be a leader so young if he couldn’t see to it.”

I closed my eyes, my body shaking.

Click, click,
click.

“Good news is
, we destroyed their hideout. The building had a tunnel leading from their territory to ours. We couldn’t detect them crossing through because our spells are all above ground, and they were below it. Obviously. Hence the word ‘tunnel.’ So, we should be back to right where that’s concerned. Plus, you shook up Trek—he thought he held the most power in this corner of the world. Now there’s you. If we can get you trained, we can have some
real
battles! Let you deal with him so the rest of us can beat the piss out of the Eastern Territory!”

The glee in Charles’ voice was unmistakable.

“You nearly died, you’re burnt to hell, but you’re
excited
about more battles to come. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“In a nutshell?
I still have to be your bodyguard. Although, you are entertaining, I’ll say that much. If your moods weren’t so bad, it might be a fun gig.”

“If
my
moods weren’t so bad? You have way worse PMS than I do!”

Charles raised his chin with an important air about him. “I am a man—I am not moody, I am stressed because I am important.”

I shook my head with a smile. “Idiot.”

*****

It took me two days to get on my feet. Stefan told me he wouldn’t have sex with me because he worried about my wellbeing; but when I took blood from him, then climbed in his lap, the fight went out of him.

We ate breakfast and dinner together, and slept in the same bed
—a practice he wanted to continue forever. I wasn’t so sure. What would happen when he had to take a mate? Three people in a bed were too many for my taste. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to share him. I didn’t want another woman so much as looking at him for too long. It made our future extremely uncertain.

Add to that a bigwig coming to this clan specifically to evaluate my strange and usually not working brand of magic and…I needed a fast ride. I hadn’t made Charles scream yet, but I wanted to give it another try.

“Hurry up!” Charles yelled. He’d been waylaid with me, not admitting he needed time to heal. Thankfully, he didn’t have to. He was still my bodyguard, so he got to rest while I did. So, now that we took the opportunity to go for a drive, in which I would absolutely speed, he was antsy.

“Jesus, slow your roll. I had to put on my shoe—
“ I cut off.

Sitting in the driver’s seat of my car, wearing a black and gold
bowtie, was a ‘me’ sized teddy bear.

“What the hell is that?” Charles asked, staring.

I smiled, my heart filling with love. I felt an answering warmth through our shared link. “Stefan is fulfilling his duty.”

The drive was fantastic, flying over hills and speeding around turns. I felt as light as air. Charles swore three times. And all the while, the teddy bear
was in the back, bouncing around like it was in a jumpy-house, grinning happily—a symbol of the love Stefan and I shared.

THE END