Shifter Magnetism (22 page)

She helped him gather the ingredients for bacon, eggs, and pancakes, though a glance at the clock informed her it was closer to lunch than it was to breakfast, and then took up her favorite cooking position, pressed to his back with her hands in his pockets. As he worked, she inhaled his scent, allowing it to flood her with feelings of safety. She protested when he unwrapped her from his body and urged her to sit and eat.

She was quiet for some time after the first delicious bite. Finally, her stomach was satisfied enough that she could talk. “The only way we’re going to catch this sorcerer is by setting a trap.”

She winced as his fork hit his plate with a clatter. “You just woke up from nearly dying, and now you want to run straight back into danger.”

She wondered if she should mention he was yelling. “He could be anyone—a sorcerer from another Council, a crazy who hasn’t been identified as crazy yet. The longer we fumble around in the dark, the greater the chance he kills again. We have something he wants. Me.”

The silence in the kitchen was profound. And Nic’s face. His face was scary as he stared at her, eyes full wolf, skin drawn over the bones as if he was at the very edge of a shift. She’d never been scared of Nic before, but she was now. Her wolf was watchful, warning her to stay still and not make any moves. He pushed away from the table and stood. His chair tipped backward and clattered to the floor.

Without a word, he left the room. Heart racing, she tried to figure out what to do. A crash jerked her to her feet. It sounded as if the floor had caved in, and the walls shook. She ran to the kitchen doorway to find the sofa upside down on the floor across the room from where it should be, right next to a giant dent in the wall. Standing, head bowed, hands pressed against the wall beside the front door, Nic’s entire body shook.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“No.” The single syllable was raw, dark, and final.

She watched as Nic nudged his shoes off and opened the door. Between one second and the next, he was a large gray wolf. He ran, then leaped off the steps and away. She hurried to the doorway, only to see him heading for the woods. Hugging herself, she walked out and sat on the top step. It was quiet as everyone in the area stared after their alpha.

A shadow blocked the sun, and Leila looked up as Jake climbed the stairs. The normally stoic man’s face showed his concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. The sofa and wall could be in pain, though.”

His eyebrows shot close to his hairline. “What happened?”

I hurt him.
“I suggested I would make good bait for the sorcerer.”

Jake sighed. “Leila, he thought you were going to die.”

“I realize my mistake. Now. Can you go after him?”

“No, it’s best he run it out. My job is to protect you.” He hesitated, then sat down next to her. She noticed he left the entire length of the step between them.

They sat in silence. Kim, one of the toddlers, waddled over, navigated the steps by crawling, and insisted Leila pick her up. As Leila pulled the little rounded body into her lap, she felt a tiny bit of the tension leak from her. She kissed Kim’s forehead and held her tighter. Kim was content to play with the bangles on Leila’s wrist and remained silent.

Even the children playing in the Yard did so quietly, their words hushed, their movements smaller than they normally would be. It brought home to Leila how important the alpha was to the pack. His distress affected them. There was a connection she knew wasn’t even felt in the Council. She wasn’t surprised when Ana and a completely healed Tara took seats on the stairs below Leila.

“It will be all right, Leila. He won’t stay away for long.”

Ana’s voice was soothing to Leila’s ears, and she wondered what she was allowing to leak through the pack bond she hadn’t even realized was there.

When Nic finally walked through the Yard wearing a thin pair of sweatpants, the children were the first to react, running to touch him or be touched before darting off to play more loudly than they had before. Tears threatened at the back of her eyes, and she fought them off. The adults were more restrained, watching as he approached the house. He kissed his mother on the forehead, stroked his hand over the hair slowly growing in on Tara’s head, and nodded to Jake.

He looked good. He picked Kim up and kissed her, then allowed her to return the sign of affection, only the toddler’s was more noisy and involved a lot of face petting. He solemnly waited until the little girl was finished before handing her to her mother, who had strode over after Nic.

Leila didn’t resist as he pulled her to standing and hugged her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her nose near his collarbone. She didn’t lift her head when she felt them moving toward the house. The door closed with a whisper of sound before she lifted her head.

Nic said, “I shouldn’t have thrown the couch while you were near.”

She’d been in an entirely different room, but it wasn’t time to argue with him. “I’m sorry.”

He squeezed her tighter. “That’s my line.” He walked over to an armchair and sat, settling her in his lap. “Leila, I love you. I couldn’t bear to think of you in danger, and to think I put you there…” He stopped talking, his jaw tight.

He loved her. Joy burst within her so strong she didn’t know if she could contain it. She cupped his face, keeping her touch gentle for her strong mate who had opened his heart to her.

Those stupid tears in her eyes got free. “I love you too. I never meant to hurt you.”

She kissed him, attempting to tell him without words how much he meant to her. They were both panting when she pulled away.

She snuggled in close and petted his chest as he held her.

Nic squeezed her tighter. “You may be on to something. This guy has to have killed before, or somebody has noticed he’s acting weird. Hank went back to work today. I’ll call him and ask him to check for similar deaths across the state.”

“I’ll call my uncle. We can get started looking for wizards who may have been acting suspiciously.”

Neither one of them moved for ten more minutes. The world could wait ten minutes.

* * * *

Leila sat at the kitchen table and watched as Nic put down his cell phone a few hours later. “Four deaths in Patton. Similar to ours, but no clue if the victims were witches.”

“I don’t have any information on Patton. It’s outside the area we’ve been checking.” She sighed and picked up the phone to call her uncle. He could get answers faster than she could.

The call was brief. “He says he’ll check.” She paused. “There was a call on my phone from my mother reminding me I was supposed to have dinner with her tonight.”

“You can’t go alone.”

She knew that. “Will you come with me?”

His smile was all teeth. “What’s Zuria going to say?”

“Nic.”

He kissed her. “Sure, I’ll come. While we wait for your uncle to call back, I’ll patch the hole in the wall.”

“I’ll clean up the kitchen.”

She heard the vacuum running as she was clearing the kitchen table and peered around the corner to see him vacuuming the sofa. He looked pretty serious about it, so she left him to it. The dishes didn’t take long, and when she wandered back out to the living room, Nic was spreading white gunk over the wall.

Tired even though she’d slept for two days, she curled up on the sofa. She’d just rest her eyes for a few moments.

Sharp, shrill ringing had her sitting straight up, flinging her hand out to find her phone. Someone grabbed her hand, and she turned to find Nic smiling at her. He held her phone out to her, and she mumbled her thanks. She answered the phone.

“Leila?”

“Hi, Uncle Kofi. Do you have anything for me?”

“Yes, the male historian in Patton says four witches were killed almost exactly a year ago.”

“Just four?”

“There was also a disappearance. A young witch went missing a month before the killings started.”

“Do they think it was related?”

“The husband was being watched before the young woman’s disappearance. He’d been acting odd. Her family was scared for her. They said he’d become increasingly possessive and unreasonable. They investigated but couldn’t prove he’d done anything to her. The police determined she could have simply left town, but the case is still open.”

“The murders began a month after?”

“Yes. One a week for four weeks, then nothing.”

“What about the husband?”

“He disappeared. I have his name here.” The faint sound of paper shuffling could be heard in the background. “I found it. Octavius Ross.”

“Thanks, Uncle Kofi.”

“Be safe, Leila.”

She hung up and turned to Nic. “The name sounds familiar.”

“I’ll run it through the computers at work tomorrow. It’s getting late. Aren’t we supposed to head to your mother’s?”

She looked down at her arms and grimaced. She would never be able to convince her mother Nic had nothing to do with her scars. Nic had enough guilt without her mother treating him as if he were an abuser.

Nic took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “It will be okay. We’ll face her together.”

They changed and then got in Nic’s SUV. Leila was still tugging on the three-quarter-length sleeves of the linen pantsuit as they pulled up in front of her parents’ mini mansion at dusk. Zuria and Aton lived in a gated community full of witches and wizards.

Nic gently took her hand in his. “You’re beautiful.”

“I already know what she’s going to say, Nic. Your mom is so nice and mine is so mean.”

“We can leave whenever you want. Say the word, and I’ll fling you over my shoulder and make a run for the car.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. She kissed him and then opened the door and stepped out before she lost her nerve. And froze. She’d smelled the burning tar scent before. Nic’s growl confirmed her suspicions.

“Is it him?”

“Yes. The scent trail leads into the house.”

Had he hurt her parents? “If he’s been watching for us, he knows we’re here.”

“Maybe.”

Nic dragged her back so their bodies were hidden behind the SUV. He brought out his phone and called Jake. She listened while he instructed him to call the Watch and get a group of shifter soldiers to her parents’ address. She looked at the windows. No one seemed to be peering out at them.

Nic disconnected the call, then retrieved his gun from the locked container under the seat. “Dial your parents.”

She tried the house number, her father’s cell, and her mother’s cell, but was connected to voice mail each time.

Leila gripped the phone tightly. “Could we get closer? Maybe look through a window? I need to know they aren’t hurt. Maybe they don’t know what he is, and they’re simply sitting there drinking tea. I have a spare key.”

“I’ll get closer. You stay here.”

Before she could protest, Nic was gone, making his way from the front windows around to the side of the house where she could no longer see him. She strained to see in the dark, waiting for him to return to her side. A car door slammed in the distance and a dog barked. But her mate didn’t come back.

She had no idea what to do. Her parents could be in danger, her mate could be in danger, and she was huddled behind a parked vehicle. Acid boiled in her stomach.

Red light illuminated the backyard and was gone. Holding her breath, she watched. The light appeared again and again, becoming more erratic. She stayed low as she rounded the vehicle and ran toward the backyard. The red flashes had to be mage fire. She’d never seen red mage fire; hers was blue. But it was clear someone was in trouble, and Nic was in the midst of it.

She slowed as she came to the back corner of the house. A crash, like the sound of wood shattering, brought her to a halt. Heart in her throat, she edged closer and glanced around the corner into the yard. Nic was nowhere to be seen, but her father’s bamboo-bordered herb garden was in shambles.

A tall man stood on the deck. She couldn’t fully make out his features, only that he was pale and thin. From where he stood, she knew there were French doors behind him. He turned away from her and sent more mage fire into the deep shadows of the tree-lined yard. She could only assume he was aiming for Nic.

Where were her parents? If Zuria and Aton were able, they would be taking care of the sorcerer, not huddling inside while he burned down their backyard. Were they hurt? Out of the house?

What should she do? Use mage fire to try to take the sorcerer down now, or go around and attempt to surprise him by coming through the front or the kitchen? She pulled power to her, feeling the tingles all along her palm and fingers.

The sorcerer released another bolt of mage fire, and an animal yelp pierced the air. He’d hit Nic. How dare he touch her mate? How dare he harm him? She only had one thought. Eliminate the threat to her mate.

Leila flung her hand at the sorcerer, aiming for his torso. It missed its mark as he turned, catching him in the upper arm. He cried out, and she didn’t wait but tossed another. It appeared to graze his belly. If it had hit him full-on, it would have dropped him immediately. He hunched, and she moved closer to take a better shot at him.

She couldn’t hear Nic, and her mind supplied a picture of him lying wounded or worse in the dark of the yard. The man’s hand came up, and she didn’t move fast enough. Pain seared her side, as if one hundred tiny burning needles had entered her flesh. She staggered a bit and tossed another burst of mage fire at her opponent.

She dodged to the left as more red mage fire careened toward her. Her thigh exploded in pain, and she fought the wavering blackness at the edge of her sight. If she passed out now, she wouldn’t kill this bastard and find Nic.

There was a crash in the house. The man turned and made to go inside, and she threw more mage fire at him. Blurry vision caused her to miss her target. She crouched to the floor of the deck, attempting to catch her breath. He was hurt too, she was satisfied to see. Now it was simply a game of who could outlast the other. The man raised his hand before she was ready to do the same. She called her magic even as she tried to urge her body to move out of the way of his strike.