Intoxicating Magic (6 page)

This time Link turned to look at me, his eyes glowing gold.

“You can shift if you want to, but we might be in this Jeep for a while. I’m thinking you’ll be a lot more comfy curled into that seat as a Shih Tzu, but it’s your choice.”

His eyes stopped glowing and turned to amber brown.

“Good boy.” I scratched his neck. He arched into my hand and closed his eyes. I smiled at him. So easy to please… unlike the other men in my life.

Placing both hands on the wheel, I focused on following Tal. After driving for about thirty miles, my muscles started to tense. Where was he going? At fifty miles, sweat broke out on the back of my neck and an ache formed in my gut. We hadn’t been this far down Highway 101 since the last day we’d all been together. Me, Beau, and Talisen.

My heart raced with ever-growing dread. Even driving by that exit was bound to shatter the small grasp I had on keeping my shit together.

“Please, Tal. Don’t be going where I think you’re going.”

But then his blinker lit up and he took the exit just south of Garberville. My breath caught in my throat as I choked on uncontrollable tears. “Why!” I cried and jerked the wheel just as a giant black truck swerved into my lane.

The asshole had the nerve to lay into his horn and send a rude gesture as he cut off the person in the lane to the left of me.

Link growled and with a flash morphed into wolf form, his teeth bared. If only I was on the street with that asshat, I’d be tempted to let my wolf tear him down a notch or two. Good thing we were confined in the Jeep. I didn’t need to get arrested or worry about Link being hauled off by animal control.

Taking deep breaths, I followed Talisen down the two-lane road that left no question as to where he was headed. I hit his name on my phone again. Instant voice mail. Dammit, dammit, dammit!

We turned right onto a dirt road, me a few hundred feet behind Tal. He had to know I was behind him by now. What was he doing here? The last time we’d been to Garberville was the last time we’d seen Beau alive.

The tears flowed freely as I pulled the Jeep to a stop behind Tal’s truck. As soon as I did, his door flew open and he jumped out. His face was set into a scowl as he stalked toward me.

What was wrong with him? Was he so upset about me following him that he was going to chew me out here, in the field where Beau died? I pulled a tissue from my purse and wiped at my eyes, trying to regain my composure.

His lightly streaked hair was casually styled in wavy clumps and his jaw was stubbled with at least three days’ growth. Combined with his low jeans and tight T-shirt, he looked more gorgeous than ever, though the fierce irritation blazing from his emerald-green eyes wasn’t at all like the man I’d known most of my life. What was going on? Why the hell had he come here?

Talisen stopped dead in his tracks, his face turning ash white. He shook his head in confusion and then walked slowly up to the window, his gaze searing through mine.

I just sat there, my heart strumming wildly in my chest. Holy hell, I’d missed him. Missed his banter, his expressive eyes, the feel of my hand in his.

He reached up and tugged on the door handle. Slowly, the door opened. Neither of us said a word as our eyes met and held. Then he scowled at me.

Link yelped and flew over me to get to Tal. Still in wolf form, he landed with a hard thump at Tal’s feet and jumped up, his paws hitting Tal’s chest. He bounced like a puppy, his tail wagging, desperate for attention.

Tal’s lips curved into a whisper of smile as he scratched behind Link’s ears. Link whined uncontrollably and lapped at Tal’s face. “Down, boy,” Tal said mildly.

I had to swallow my outrage. What I wouldn’t give to have Tal’s easygoing manner directed at me. Instead, I got the evil glare and not even so much as a hello.

Link sat perfectly still at Tal’s feet, staring at me with his head tilted as if wondering why I hadn’t followed his lead and slobbered all over Tal in greeting. Right. After that incredibly warm welcome. Not.

“Willow,” Tal said, scowling again. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I’d stopped crying, but I had no doubt my eyes were red and my cheeks tearstained. What a jerk. I jumped out of the Jeep and struck him in the chest with both hands, pushing him backward. “What am I doing here? Is that all you have to say to me after three months of silence? Seriously?”

My body started to shake with adrenaline. Being in this place and confronting Talisen, it was more than I could take. And to have him angry at me… it was infuriating.

Talisen took a step back, deliberately putting more space between us. “You need to leave right now.”

I scanned the fields, indignation fueling my simmering rage. “Really? Are you going to make me? I came here because I need to talk to you. And what do I find? You coming here, of all places, and then you have the nerve to treat me like I did something wrong? What the hell is the matter with you?” I couldn’t stop myself. He’d made me so upset I stepped forward and pushed him once again with both hands. Hard.

“Willow.” He growled and grabbed both of my hands, forcing them down to my sides. Something close to sympathy or maybe regret flashed through his eyes as he stepped in close, invading my personal space. He stared down at me as he pushed me back toward the open door of the Jeep. “Get in the car and go back to your mother’s house, right now. You should not be here.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I spat out and yanked my wrists from his hold. Damn him for making friends with my dog. Any other person on the planet would’ve already had a chunk of flesh taken out of him for putting his hands on me. “You shouldn’t be here either. You should be back at your lab… working. I’m not leaving until you tell me what exactly is going on with you.”

He flinched lightly at my words but said nothing. He stared at me, a muscle pulsing in his jaw.

“So that’s it, then? I followed you all the way down here to find out you’re visiting the place Beau was
murdered
and you have nothing to say other than to tell me to leave? Real nice, Tal. Real nice.”

“Willow—”

“Don’t Willow me. Damn you, Tal! All of this because you think I have something with David?” I swallowed the guilt trying to choke me as the memory of David brushing his lips over mine a few weeks ago flashed in my mind. “You left me. You never even gave us a chance. And now you’re here treating me like some pesky stalker. Well, I’ve got news for you—”

“Willow!” He bent his head and ran a jerky hand through his sandy-bond hair. “I’m meeting someone here.” Then he reached for me as if he was going to nudge me back into the Jeep again, but his hand fell. “You need to leave. Go back to your mom’s or my house. It’s not…”

When he didn’t finish his thought, I placed my hands on my hips and stood my ground. “Not what, Talisen? Safe?” I eyed Link. He lay on his side, his eyes closed as he breathed deeply. The wolf was utterly relaxed. “Looks like there isn’t too much to be worried about. Unless you’re meeting someone you don’t want me to know about.” Could that be it? Was he meeting another woman there? That seemed highly unlikely. Why would he bring someone to my mother’s old lavender fields over an hour away? I shook my head. The thought was utterly ridiculous.

Talisen clamped his mouth shut and averted his gaze.

“Tal?” Confusion overtook my frustration. None of this made sense. His attitude, the fact that he was no longer working at the lab, him meeting someone where Beau died. “I think you better tell me what’s going on.”

He straightened. “Go home, Willow. I’ll come by when I’m done here.”

Blood rushed to my head, and I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where he could shove his
Go home, Willow
, but Link woke suddenly and jumped to his feet, his gaze fixated on something across the field. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he moved to stand right in front of me.

“What is it, Link?” I asked in a hushed tone.

“Willow!” Tal said harshly. “Go. Now.”

I ignored him. I wasn’t leaving Tal there. Not with the way he was acting. All my pent-up anger fled, replaced by an absolute certainty that I couldn’t leave him alone. Not in that field and not that night. “Forget it.”

Link crept forward, his head down as he tracked his prey. I retrieved my stun gun from my purse and followed my wolf.

Talisen grabbed my arm lightly.

I yanked myself free and didn’t even look back. Steeling myself against all the painful memories trying to consume my every thought, I forced myself to head into the growing darkness. Wherever Link went, I was going. Maybe it was stupid, but I wouldn’t leave Link any more than I would leave Tal. They both were entirely too important to me.

“Shit!” Tal said from behind me. It was the only indication he’d followed. Fae moved silently when they wanted to. It was from years of walking the forests. Soon enough he caught up to me. “You don’t know what you’re getting into.”

“You’re right.” I cast him a sidelong glance. “But I have a feeling you don’t either.”

He gave me a humorless laugh. “Too late for me, gorgeous.” His tone was filled with sad irony. But all the anger in his expression had fled, replaced by defeated resignation.

A dart of pain shuddered through me. What was going on with him?

He glanced at me as a small sigh escaped his lips, and then he reached out and grabbed my hand, his fingers tightening around mine.

My first instinct was to pull back, but his familiar touch comforted me in a way that no one else’s could. I was still angry at his reaction to seeing me there, but I couldn’t bear to separate from him either.

We walked in silence until Link let out a low growl and leaped forward. A flash of magic lit up the field, stopping Link in his tracks. He yelped and collapsed onto his side, whimpering.

“Link!” I ran to him, placing a light hand on his large head.

“You shouldn’t have brought her here, Kavanagh,” an impatient voice called from above us.

I leaped to my feet. “What did you do to Link?” I demanded, my thumb hovering over the trigger of my stun gun.

A tall, dark-haired vampire dropped from a limb, his pale skin glowing in the twilight. My gut tightened as I sucked in a sharp breath. But something was off. I hadn’t sensed him at all either. Another spell? Was it possible? I backed up, but as I studied him, my eyes widened. He wasn’t a vampire at all. He was my brother’s friend, the fae shifter. “Hunter?”

He stared at me. “You’re going to want to drop that Taser.”

I clutched the stun gun harder and took a step forward. “And why is that?”

“Wil.” Talisen reached out for me, but I sidestepped him.

I glanced between the two of them. “Someone needs to start talking and fast.”

Hunter stared at me, his face expressionless. Then after a moment, he gave a tiny nod.

“No, dammit!” Tal shouted and lunged behind me, but it was too late.

An ice-cold hand wrapped around my forearm and twisted. Electric fire from my own stun gun shot through me just before my world turned black.

Chapter 6

A vibration combined with the rhythmic sound of thump, thump, thump clouded my consciousness as I came back to myself. I rolled and hissed when pain shot through my shoulder from the bounce of my body weight. “Ouch.”

“Willow, wake up,” an urgent voice coaxed. “Hurry.”

I blinked in the darkness, trying to orient myself. From the rumble of an engine and the rocky motion, it was clear we were in some sort of moving vehicle. A van maybe? I was lying on the floor, my face pressed into synthetic carpet. “Who are you?” I forced out, my throat dry as I tried to fight the panic that was taking over.

“Hunter. You’ve got to wake up.”

Two cold hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me into an upright position. His viselike grip indicated vampire. Shit! My fight reflex kicked in and my entire body tensed as I flailed, unsuccessfully trying to jerk back. “Let go!”

My heart pounded in my throat and my wings flared uncontrollably.

“Willow, it’s me Hunter,” he said again. “Calm down. We have to get you out of here.”

I stilled and peered at him, taking in his dark hair and stunning green eyes. He reminded me of a panther. Then his words penetrated and I finally made sense of what he’d said. He was my brother’s fae shifting friend, Hunter. Why then had he shifted into a vampire?

Was he working with one like the fae in the club? But if he was, he didn’t seem intent on hurting me. He’d just said he had to get me out of there, hadn’t he? Taking deep breaths, I glanced around, noting we were locked in the back of a van that was closed off from the driver. It was a security van with restraints bolted to the walls. If the restraints weren’t for me, who were they for? Bile rose in the back of my throat as I imagined humans strapped into the van, being transported to a vamp blood bank. Or worse. “What do you want from me?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. You weren’t supposed to be there tonight and now we only have a few minutes before it’s too late to get you out of here.”

My arms and legs were trembling. “Where are Link and Tal?” My heart ached. The last time I’d seen Link, he’d been crumpled on the ground, unmoving. Was he okay?