Shifter Magick (13 page)

Kera frowned at him. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So this is how you felt when I shut you out?”

Maddox looked at her. His eyes narrowed and a muscle worked in his jaw. “There are still things between us
…”

“The secrets.” Kera finished for him. “I don’t want any more secrets.”

He shook his head.

“I know yours.”
She rushed out.
His eyes went dark. Kera felt unease in the pit of her stomach. Her heart began to race and she noticed his attention turn to her chest. “You hear it don’t you.” She placed her hand over her heart and stepped forward. She placed her other palm over his heart and felt the thump of his heart against her skin. “I can hear yours too.”

“What are you saying Kera?” His voice was dark.

“I’m sorry I scratched your face.” She whispered.

Maddox blinked at her words. He put his hand on his chest covering hers. His breath shuttered out. “
You
have claw’s?”
He looked stricken.

Kera frowned and said,
“Only sometimes.”
Her voice was shaky because she was afraid. Afraid suddenly that he wasn’t happy she knew what he was.

His hand closed around hers. “
How long have you known?”

“Fifteen minutes.” She told him. “From the moment I saw you shift.”

He reached out and grabbed her other hand and pulled her closer to him. Maddox
narrowed his eyes, a muscle ticked in his jaw.
“Why did you come here? You’ve got to admit it looks suspicious that you show up here, snooping around.”

She tried to smile but her lips trembled. “Andrew had another message for me. He wanted to tell me your secrets. He hasn’t left me alone since I got here. He is like you isn’t he? He’s a wolf. He knows what I am. He attacked me.” Kera felt her breath come out in short pants. “Why would he attack me?”

Maddox still held her hands close to his heart.
The warmth spread through her skin and Kera relaxed. She couldn’t leave his grasp and she didn’t try.
“
I thought it was a warning to me.” He worked his jaw as he pinned her with a hard stare. “Now I wonder if it was a warning to you.”

“Before his attack I hadn’t shifted in four years.” Kera felt the tension rise. “You tell me why I needed a warning.”

“How about
you tell me?
” His voice was still hard. His eyes were darker blue that happened when he was upset.

Kera recoiled and stepped back. Maddox kept a firm hold on her wrists. He narrowed his eyes on her and waited for the answer. He wanted her to speak.

He wanted to judge her answer.

“I turned him down twice before
I met you. Then
you asked me out and I said yes.” Kera said softly. “Maybe he attacked me because he was mad.”

Maddox let go of her hands and stepped away from her. As he watched her, Kera felt small.

“I thought this would go a little differently.” Kera said nervously. “Should I go?”

“No.” Maddox said quickly. “I’m just a little shell shocked Kera. I never expected this. To think that Andrew might have known about this or that he and my family didn’t feel like I needed to know makes me wonder what is going on. I have been distant from them but this puts our secret in danger. The whole family is at risk and you change things.”

“What do I change?” Kera backed up and took a seat. “Other than the way you feel about me.” She added bitterly.

Maddox
shut his eyes and shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration then walked over to the coffee table and sat in front of her. “I was instantly attracted to you Kera. I like your personality and the way you make me feel when I’m around you. But you
,
being a shifter
,
changes things.”

“You said that already.” Kera felt her chest shake. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she turned away from him. If she was going to cry she could do it later. After she got all of her answers. After he told her why they couldn’t be together anymore.

“I thought you looked familiar.” Maddox said softly. “You’re one of them. Who was your mother Kera?”

Kera gasped when his hand came down on her knee. He was gentle but firm. He drew her attention back to the conversation when the mention of her mother had her pushing it away. She sat back down before she had even realized she had tried to leave.

“
Did she really die on two weeks from Friday? Was it really five years ago?” He pressed her to answer him with the roughness of his voice. “Did you know that was the same day as my accident? The coincidence was supposed to draw me in wasn’t it?”

Kera gulped down her new found fear. She felt her face flush as it struck her that everything she had done so far made her look bad in his eyes. “I thought you could tell if I was lying. Wouldn’t you have known if I was lying when I told you about my mother’s accident?” Anger welled up inside her. She shoved his hand from her leg and stood up.

Maddox grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.

“Please don’t hurt me.” She begged.

Maddox pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. “You’re shaking.” He whispered into her hair.

Kera wrapped her arms around him and fisted her hands in his shirt. “I’m terrified.” She told him. “You’re scaring me.”

Maddox sighed and continued to hold her. “I’m scared too Kera. My ability hasn’t always worked. I can’t rely on it for something this important. If you are telling the truth then I hope you understand why I have to do this. But if there is something else going on here…” he paused to loosen his grip on her,
a physical reminder of the distance the truth created between them.
“I need you to come with me.”

“
You would let me say goodbye to my father first right?”

Maddox laughed harshly. “We’re not going to kill you Kera.” He sounded disgusted. He gripped her shoulders and captured her eyes with his. “I wouldn’t let something like that happen to you. We’re not animals… all the time.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Kera blinked and more tears fell down her cheeks.

Maddox closed his eyes and let out a sigh. When he opened them his eyes were lighter, not so harsh. “My feelings for you haven’t changed.” He said.

Kera pushed at him.
She
shook his hands away from her shoulders in
anger. “
How
dare you.” She hissed at him. The sound was guttural
and his eyes widened
.
Kera felt her jaw contort and she knew her eyes were elongated in a partial shift. “Give me one reason to put my safety in your hands.”

He stepped to her, positioned his hands on either side of her face and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Kera’s breath shuttered out of her chest.

She was in love with him. It was stupid and dangerous but she couldn’t help it. Kera didn’t know how she could be any more confused or torn up inside. She kept her eyes closed as he began to kiss her. His lips covered hers and
she gave into his demands. She opened her mouth and battled her tongue with his.

Could she ever say no to Maddox Howell?

Maddox called his father before they left the shop.
Kera listened as Maddox spoke in code about her. His eyes had darkened again but she didn’t argue when he asked her to get in the car. She didn’t believe him when he said everything would be
okay
.
It was still raining. The doom and gloom outside
the car
matched the feeling in the center of her chest.

“You said you would never tell him about me.” Kera said flatly.

Maddox spared her a pained look then turned back to the road. “I know.” He held his hand out for her to hold.

Kera looked at it and turned to stare out the window. She was angry with herself for kissing him. It wasn’t fair. He still planned to feed her to the wolves.
In the silence she regretted her decision to tell him. She wondered why Andrew attacked her. Would he be there?

Maddox pulled up to a gated mansion. From what she could see, through the night and through the rain,
it
was a large stone house. It was four stories with a large archway that lead to double doors. The gate opened
when he pulled up and he drove through. Lightning crashed and illuminated the house.

Kera saw the front door open and a tall man stood in the doorway. Her heart pounded and her instinct was to run.

“We just need to talk.” Maddox said from beside her. “No one is going to hurt you.”

Kera didn’t know what to believe but she didn’t run. 

Maddox opened the door for her and held out his hand again. She tried to swat it away but he caught it and pulled her to him. His arm came around her back and his lips touched her ear. “I promise.” He whispered to her.

“You already broke that promise.” She whispered.

Maddox shook his head like he didn’t want to believe her. “I’ll make it up to you.” He said.

Kera pulled away from him and severed all contact. She watched the man from the doorway walk forward. He looked like Maddox. He was tall and hansom, his eyes were that dark blue Maddox’s got when he was upset.

“I’m Jason Howell.”
He said.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
His eyes roamed her face and for some reason his dark blue lightened. He motioned for them to follow him into the house and Kera did.

She let the elegance distract her. The halls were long and filled with paintings and gold embossed sconces. The
walk was short. Jason led them into the first room they walked by.

Inside, there was another man.
He had blond hair and green eyes. He was tall but not near as tall as Maddox and Jason. Maybe five eleven to their six two.
When Maddox saw him he growled and stepped in front of Kera. Jason put his hand on Maddox’s chest in warning.

With that one action, Kera felt a thin thread of hope that Maddox would protect her if anything got out of hand.

“Come on now Maddox, no need to get possessive. She is, in fact, part of my family.”
This made Kera’s ears perk up.

Maddox growled again, but he moved out of the way.

Kera caught his eye when he glanced at her and she wanted to ask him what was going on. When he looked away from her, Kera felt the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach worsen. “What family?”

“If I’m not mistaken, I’m your uncle.” He said. “You do look just like Laura.”

Kera felt her mouth drop open. Shock spread through her body and it tingled at her skin. She looked at Maddox with wide eyes. Did he know this?

Maddox was watching her curiously. He was judging her reactions and that hurt. Really what did she expect? She did just meet him. A few kisses didn’t make them devoted to each other.

Kera turned back to her self-proclaimed uncle. “I never knew where my mother was from. She wouldn’t talk about her family so I have no idea who you are.”

The man smiled but it was strained. “My name is Luke. I’m her younger brother. Laura left us when she was in her freshmen year of college and was never heard from again.”

Kera nodded. “Great. Then we’re up to speed. Now what?”

Jason cleared his throat behind her. She turned around and saw a silent exchange between him and Maddox. It looked like Jason was trying to get Maddox to leave and he was refusing.

Kera turned to Maddox. “
Please stay.”

Maddox met her eyes. “Did you know your mother grew up here?” He asked her.

“No, I didn’t.” Kera answered him.

“Your mother took something of ours.” Luke said harshly. “A leather bound book with our family’s history.”

Kera shook her head but didn’t turn from Maddox. “I don’t have it.”

“Maddox said you know what we are.” Jason said from behind her. “This isn’t something many know. He also said you could do something similar.”

“Impossible.” Luke refuted him. “We are sorcerers not animals.”

“I’m not a sorcerer.” Kera denied. “I’m a shifter and that’s all I’ve ever been.”

“Amazing.” Jason murmured softly.

Kera heard it, because of her ability. It didn’t seem that Luke heard him. “It’s the truth.” Kera gave Maddox a hard stare before she turned to her uncle. “What is it you want from me?”

“Prove it.”
Her uncle demanded.

“No.” Maddox moved to her side and grabbed her hand.

Kera looked up at him and noticed that his eyes had cleared, leaving the ice blue that she loved. Did that mean he believed her?
She squeezed his hand and almost sighed in relief when he squeezed back.

“Let’s go.” Maddox said.

Luke smiled. “I work at the college Kera.” He
walked forward and rested his eyes on their entwined hands.
“I expect you to come visit me if you find the book. This is important for our family and Jason’s family. You and Maddox look pretty close. Think about what could happen if something went wrong with the curse and we had no way of fixing it.”