Ritual Magic (25 page)

"HA!" I barked out. "You are sadly mistaken
about a few points." I noticed as Henry straightened his suit
jacket slightly and returned to his formal stoic demeanor.

Max eyed me and discontinued his facial
twitching. He immediately stood up, strode across the sitting area
and then took the remaining precious space that was left on the
loveseat next to me.

"I must admit—I am a bit concerned about how
my body reacts to yours. In all honesty, I felt that I was never
going to find anyone that inspired such...a reaction within me."
His eyes narrowed as if he considered me to be dangerous. Henry's
face twitched in my peripheral vision.
Danger, Will
Robinson!
Danger!

"Hmm, and what does that mean
exactly?
" I gave him a sweep from head to toe to make it
clear that I was assessing him as a package, and not as an
incredibly intimidating vampire-warlock. I had to take control of
the situation, and turning him into my personal eye candy was
my
way of doing it. Unfortunately, he just smiled broadly at
me with a twinkle in his eyes before he leaned forward.

Speaking in a breathy, sexy tone, he reached
out slowly to brush my shoulder with his long fingers. "I do have
to reconsider my past decisions concerning you." Taking a breath,
and blowing a wide gust of air out towards the ceiling, he
continued. "I believe that I may have been...mistaken." He allowed
his eyes to settle on me again as what he was saying began to sink
in.
What decisions?

I thought about it quickly. If I was slow on
the uptake, and took too long to put two and two together, it could
be the end of me
and
my family. This man had made decisions
that had impacted my past. I was sitting in the territory of Leo's
family. This
man
was related to Leo. Demons were
involved...

"You sent the shadow demons to kill me." My
chin popped up slightly as I noticed Henry take half of a step
forwards. This was possibly news to him. Really, for a guard, he
was actually quite sensitive to my personal reactions, and he
allowed his own to be noticeable. That led me to believe that Henry
was
not
really a guard.

Good information to know
.

Max pulled his hand away from my shoulder
and shrugged like there was nothing personal meant by an attempt on
my life. "I don't know what you are talking about.
I
don't
control the shadow demons." He turned his head towards the doorway
that Sophia and Leo had disappeared through before. There was a lot
said in that one movement—Sophia was the one pulling the strings,
at least according to him.

I followed his gaze to the doorway and then
my eyes floated back to him, cutting straight through the crap that
he was trying to hand me.

"Bullsquat," I said firmly.

Max looked back at me as if he were
offended.
Wonder how long it took him to muster that look up.
All of a second I would suppose.

"No...I'm very sure it was you. Those demons
were poised to kill me. I would suspect that Sophia would prefer
for them to capture me alive, since she knew about the prophecy and
you clearly didn't or didn't care." Turning my head to the side, I
could see that Henry was a step closer to us now, listening
intently to the conversation.

"You didn't want to be part of the whole
conceiving a child plan—you had other things to do with your life
than to chase a rugrat around. But your
mother
, oh, she has
ambitions that include an heir even younger than you, and much more
connected
to her than you could ever be. In your eyes you
saw the baby as a threat to your right to inherit the
throne.
You would eventually be the ruler of all of the
shadow demons. You would prefer not to make the mistake of having
any legitimate heirs—they would just get in the way." I shrugged as
I listened to a dark voice rumble in the back of my mind '
Insert
anger HERE.'

"I am not threatened." Max's voice rang out
clear as a bell—no emotion at all.

"Of course you aren't." I snidely turned and
eyed Henry. He was looking past me now, but he could tell that I
knew he was paying very close attention. There was something
distinctive about Henry. His hair was waving behind him slowly as
his body tensed even more underneath my scrutiny.
Very
interesting
. It seemed that it was really my day for being
observant.

"But now you find that you are attracted to
me. Hmm, what an ironic twist of fate." I turned back to Max,
keeping my face clear of all emotion.

"And why would you say that?" Max's eyes
began to burn with ire. If he were truly a demon, his eyes would be
glowing a bright red right about now.

"Because you are attracted to me. And now,
because of your actions, you will
never
be able to have me."
I laughed bitterly in his face, panning my eyes around the room
before returning them to him, eyeing his rigid frame. "You tried to
have me killed, and I will never harbor any feelings for you but
distrust and loathing." I smiled at him as angelically as I
could—it always threw people off when I did it as I was riding the
wave of anger. I was going to win this argument.

Just then Sophia and Leo entered the room.
Leo was looking as jovial as ever, casual and comfortable while
Sophia was clearly seething with anger. Her body was so rigid that
it looked like a metal spike had been shoved down her spine. Her
hair even seemed to be standing on end, giving her the appearance
that she had experienced a physical shock. Her arrival was clearly
a surprise to Maximillian because he shifted in his seat and stood,
stiffly walking across the room to look out through one of the
windows.

I noted that Maximillian was also
experiencing no problems with the sun, and guessed that he had been
able to lay a charm on himself that would have aided him with that
particular ailment.

Turning my eyes back to Sophia and Leo, I
noticed that there was an unspoken conversation going on between
the two of them. Paying close attention, I felt that I got a good
idea of what was being
said
.

She is soooo into him! I already hear the
sound of little footsteps running through my scary halls!
Triumphant grin from Sophia.

Truly? I think the chances of that are
just as good as you becoming pregnant yourself, you old bat.
Sneer from Leo.

I doubt that she will be able to resist
him with the way that he looks right now. I'd bet just about
anything.
Gloating.

Taking a swift look at my expressionless
face and then looking back towards Sophia, Leo grinned widely.
I'll take that bet!

That's when Sophia's expression changed. She
took a long look at Max standing at the window, and then laid her
eyes on me, scanning me up and down. Finally her eyes set on Henry
standing behind me—just a little closer than he should have been.
Sophia's expression was priceless—she had no way of knowing exactly
what
had taken place to drive a wedge between her and the
hopes for a demon heir, and I was definitely not offering to be the
one to clue her in.

Leo swaggered happily over to me, bending
down to offer me his hand.

"As much a gentleman as ever." I smiled
generously up at him as I placed my shaking hand into his burning
firm grasp, allowing him to pull me up to my full height next to
him. The eye contact that he shared with me was a direct gaze as he
squeezed my hand gently, reminding me instantly of where we really
were, as well as the fact that we still had to get the heck out of
dodge.

"I don't remember giving you permission to
leave." Max's voice quivered from the window—anger clearly apparent
in his voice.

This
is what I had expected to have
happen, but
he
was not the person that I expected it to
happen with. My eyes cut to Leo as he eyed the back of the young
warlock-vampire. Nothing seemed to faze Leo—he was as cool as ever.
The only thing that gave away that he might sense or feel any
danger was in his words.

"You are not a demon, my boy. You have no
control over this domain. You are just a placeholder until your
adopted mother is given a true heir." Leo was cruel and swift with
his words.

"NO!" Max turned on his spot in one quick
flash of fury. "
I
command the shadow demons—me! I am the one
that they answer to. Who do you think conceived of them? I was the
one strong enough to create them with a little of Sophia's blood. I
am their true master and they answer to
ME!
" He shook with
rage where he stood, his black clothing quivering in the
sun—annihilating every ray of daylight that dared to touch him. His
image wavered and flickered. He was doing something with his magic
but I wasn't quite sure what. My eyes narrowed as I watched him
closely to try to understand the spell that he may have been
weaving.

Suddenly I felt Henry's thin but long hand
on my forearm. "You must leave—now." His voice was absolutely cool
and collected. He was still what he appeared to be—a servant as he
turned his head towards Sophia and she nodded at him quietly.

Sophia's face was frozen on the
warlock-vampire by the window as he seethed with rage. "It would be
best if you would calm down, my dear Max. Why don't we sit down and
have some tea?" She reached out for him but they weren't the hands
of a mother that reached out towards him—they were the wickedly
sharp talons of a demon. Her claws were much more intimidating than
even Camela's, and that was saying a lot.

Leo was instantly pulling my hand in tighter
to his arm, offering me protection by turning me so that he was
standing directly between Max and me. My eyes cut up to his and I
could read the urgency in his eyes.

"Shall we?" He tilted his head towards a
portal that was now standing beside us, clearly produced by
Henry.

Nodding, I walked towards the portal as I
listened to Max's voice drift from the window.

"Don't think this changes anything, Celeste
Ravenwood—I
will
find you. Before, it would have been an
easy death...but now..." His wicked tone sent shivers down my
spine. "Now I have a
lot
to think about."

"Go." Sophia's voice snapped at our backs as
we walked through the oval portal cutting an entrance to a beach
scene beyond.

When we were all finally back on the beach,
I stepped closer to Leo as he pulled me in with his strong arms. He
was holding me tenderly, but I couldn't feel it—my mind and body
were numb from the overload of information that had just been
poured out onto me.

I scanned the beach to register that we were
back at Cannon Beach, the sight of our previous departure. Turning
towards Henry, I noticed his lips twitching as if he were
attempting to suppress a smile.

"You aren't going to make this easy for me,
are you?" My voice gave away just how tired I was.

"No." He grinned at me and leaned forward
slightly, looked in Leo's general direction and then turned back
towards the portal, pausing before he stepped inside. "I would
watch my back if I were you. That warlock is trouble."

"He's also a vampire." I reminded him.

"He's more warlock than vampire. Trust
me—he's more trouble than Sophia times ten...she just won't see it.
I'm not sure that she ever will." He bowed his head slightly in my
direction. "We
will
see each other again." He flicked his
head towards the ocean like we were going to meet somewhere on the
other side.

My eyes followed his.
Can he see the
future?

Turning my head back towards Henry, I saw
that he was finally gone.

"What a freaking day I've had."

I shook from head to toe—probably in shock
as Leo pulled me in closer to him. Clearly he was enjoying the
extra opportunities to feel me close. His inferno temperatures were
helping to cut the chill from my bones—I didn't fight his arms.

Solomon

This was like my wildest nightmare coming to
life. It was unnerving as I stood there helplessly while Celeste
walked through the hull of the plane and out onto the wing. I
practically tore the door down myself, but the pressure from the
wind and air speeds, as well as Jack and Von, were enough to make
me go insane. There was no way to reach her, no way to help her—she
was utterly on her own.

How I would survive the loss of her in my
life was beyond me. I felt as helpless as a child, watching through
the window as she decapitated the shadow demon only to be accosted
by an albino in white.

The man was clearly a warlock—his whole
demeanor screamed it, as well as his attire. I would have guessed
that the attire alone would have meant that he was Scandinavian and
he probably had many years behind his belt, judging from the way he
stood unaffected by the wind and low oxygen levels. This man was
dangerous in so many different ways that I growled unconsciously
next to the door.

I glared at the warlock through the window
of the hatch as I watched him grabbing Celeste by the arm, moving
to drag her towards the portal that he had appeared from. Celeste's
body was tense, anger was obviously on her side and that gave me a
sense of relief. She was furious, which meant she could protect
herself. Usually, when Celeste was attacked, her best moments of
power and defense were contributed to by her anger. Basically, if
she was angry she would live.

But if Celeste was frightened...well, that
was when I would step in and destroy and conquer. She was my whole
reason for being—my reason to live. Without her, my life would
collapse. Just thinking about it gave me a swift kick in my gut.
She is going to be okay, you idiot. Snap out of it.

My body quivered with unrelenting energy. I
wanted to shift and pop out on the wing, but there was no way that
I could stay there and fight without being torn away by the wind. I
didn't have the powers that these two clearly had, and there was no
way that I could help in this situation. "Dammit!"