Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (30 page)

And they’d knowingly hidden her from the rest of the
boschetta
.

The drone in her head grew, the voices buzzing. But they weren’t angry. No, they were upset.

Damn, her head hurt. She rubbed her temples, trying to massage away the pain.

She knew what the voices were trying to tell her. They wanted her to know her parents had loved her. Her dad had told her every night before he tucked her in bed. Her mom… Had her mom ever said it?

She couldn’t remember her mom saying the words. Not once.

Rising from the couch, she started to pace, accepting the still-sharp pain in her leg to bring a little clarity to her brain.

Had her mom just been biding the time until she could sacrifice her daughter to end the curse?

The voices responded with a surge of denial that stopped her in her tracks.

No, she didn’t believe that, either. Her mom might have been aloof most of her life, but she hadn’t been plotting her own daughter’s death.

Come to think of it, aloof wasn’t the right word. As a child, she remembered asking her dad why her mom was always so sad. She didn’t remember his exact response. Couldn’t remember if he’d actually answered her.

As she’d gotten older, she’d translated sad into aloof. So many years she’d spent pissed off at her mom. At her distance, her unwillingness to connect. Her disapproval.

Had her mom just been overwhelmed at the thought that her daughter would have to have a knife stuck in her heart to break the curse?

“Shit, Mom. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

Was she supposed to let a madman kill her to break a magical curse on five-hundred-year-old women she’d never met?

She laughed but slapped a hand over her mouth when the sound escaped. She sounded crazy.

Or course, she might be crazy. That would actually make more sense than believing her death could break a curse.

But she wasn’t crazy and she knew it.

If she broke the curse, would Dario stop pursuing Leo?

Could she save her brother by letting Dario kill her?

Fear made her shiver and she rubbed at the goosebumps breaking out all over her arms and legs. It made her stomach roll.

Not fair. So not fair.

“Yeah, like anything in life is fair,” she muttered. “What if…”

She didn’t finish. She had too many questions and no answers. Would Serena or Madrona have answers? And to which questions?

“Stop, just stop. You don’t have the answers and you’re going to make yourself sick with worry.”

And she couldn’t afford that. They couldn’t afford that. She had to think about Leo.

And Gabriel. Actually, she was probably thinking too much about that man. About his dark, steady eyes. Broad shoulders, wide chest and slim hips. She allowed herself one brief minute to fantasize about what she might do with Gabriel and a few uninterrupted hours. The feel of his body covering hers, his hair trailing along her skin…

She stepped forward—and the throb of pain in her leg killed that daydream. Still, it didn’t hurt as badly as it had, and she bent her leg at the knee a few times, testing her mobility. She’d healed fairly quickly. That was a good sign.

Walking out of the library, she heard the ping of metal on metal and followed the sound to the stairs in the dining room. In the stairwell, she heard their voices perfectly.

“You’re doing fine, Leo.” Gabriel sounded pleased. “Just remember to move your feet when you parry. Try that move again. Keep your arms loose, drop your shoulders. There, like that. It makes it easier to maneuver the blades.”

“Did you use these, Gabriel?” Leo’s sweet voice carried down to her.

“No, I started with a bo staff. It’s not something you can carry around, but you can take that training and apply it to most anything you can pick up on the street.”

She could practically hear Leo turning that one over in his brain in the short silence that followed. “You mean like sticks?”

“Yeah and other stuff.”

“Show me?”

“Sure. Hang on a sec.”

Not wanting to miss the show, but not wanting to distract them, she drew on her
arus
and whispered the spell to pull a glamour over her body, ignoring the slight throb in her temples. She crept up a few more stairs until she could see the room. And the two hot men and one little boy.

Leo sat cross-legged on a corner of the huge mat covering half the floor space, his wide-eyed gaze glued to Gabriel. Quinn rested against the opposite wall, using his discarded shirt as a pillow. He looked tired, a sheen of sweat on his lean body. Quite the sight for any red-blooded female.

But it was Gabriel who made her hormones dance the happy dance as he walked into the middle of the circle, shirtless, holding a long wooden pole. That chest should be classified a deadly weapon. Deadly to her common sense because she wanted to lick the beaded sweat off his skin.

He’d taste amazing, she decided. Salty and hot and…

Well, shit. She dragged her gaze away from his chest and checked out his weapon. And she didn’t mean the one in his pants, though, she decided after a quick check, maybe she—

Bad Shea.

Regretfully, she focused her gaze on the bo staff, looking almost delicate in his large hands, but, she knew from watching her dad train that the pole could be just as deadly as any gun.

Gabriel started slow, the weapon slicing the air with a gentle whoosh. As he picked up speed, she could tell he’d logged many hours with the instrument.

His movements were as graceful as any ballet and just as hypnotizing. Concentration shone in his eyes as he dipped and swayed and swung the staff, gaining momentum.

Gabriel’s body moved in a dance of strength and power, and soon she wasn’t watching the staff. Instead, she watched the play of muscles in his broad shoulders as he swung the weapon over his head, let her gaze glide to his strong forearms as he brought the staff down hard, stopping just before it hit the ground.

Then he crouched, drawing her gaze to the black cargo pants molded over his bulging thighs.

She didn’t notice Quinn had moved until he was in the ring. He’d picked up another staff and now swung it at Gabriel’s head from behind. She managed to stifle her gasp just as Gabriel turned and blocked the swing.

Grinning, Gabriel stood and the fight began in earnest. It looked almost choreographed, like something they’d worked on for years. But she knew by the amount of effort they put into it that this was no memorized routine.

They fought each other with a ferocity that would have been frightening if she hadn’t known how much they cared for each other. Their staffs met with solid snaps as they tried to find the other’s weakness, moving all over the mat. They never came close to Leo, though, and Shea knew that took a high level of skill.

They must have fought for close to ten minutes, neither of them gaining the advantage for long.

When it seemed like Gabriel had Quinn on the defensive, Quinn would retreat then attack with a burst of speed. Gabriel never faltered, no matter what Quinn threw at him. He wore the other man down, letting Quinn get close then beating him back.

And when Quinn finally made one wrong move, Gabriel took out his legs with one swipe. Quinn hit the mat with a hard smack and Gabriel had the tip of the staff pointed at his neck in half a second.

Quinn started to laugh and Gabriel’s intent expression faded into a smile that wasn’t any less fierce. He tossed the staff to the side and extended his hand to Quinn, who promptly tried to throw Gabriel over his head. But Gabriel must have known what Quinn had in mind because he braced and flipped Quinn away. Still laughing.

“I never could get you to fall for that one.” Quinn stood and brushed himself off. “Good to know you haven’t lost your edge with age, buddy.”

“You’re still telling, Quinn. Those cub eyes do you in every time.”

“Yeah, but only because you know me too well. My enemies fear me, kid.” Quinn turned to wink at Leo then looked straight at Shea. “And the ladies love me.”

She should have known the glamour wouldn’t work with these two, and she dispelled it with a huff. Jeez, Leo could probably see through it now.

“Sissy, did you see? I’m going to fight like that.”

Bittersweet emotion filled her chest at the excitement in Leo’s voice. Seemed he’d finally found something to talk about. Standing, she walked up the stairs, aware that Gabriel watched her every move.

“That was beautiful.” She stopped at the top of the stairs, knowing if she got any closer she wouldn’t be able to resist sniffing the sweat on Gabriel’s body, his olive-toned skin shimmering in the bright sunlight from the skylights. The only other outward sign of his physical exertion was the faster pace of his breathing. She had to tear her gaze away before she drooled. “Did you and Quinn train together?”

Gabriel nodded. “For a few years, yeah. Of course, Quinn liked to play dirty.”

“Hey, I had no control over my change back then.” He tried to sound pissed off, but she didn’t think Quinn did anger. She didn’t think he was made for it. “Whenever I got excited or frightened, I’d grow claws. One of the
lucani
defense mechanisms. We learn how to control it as we get older, but Gabe has a few scars to show for it.”

“So do you.” Gabriel turned to replace the staff on the wall and she noticed the faint scar of claw marks near the waistband of his jeans.

“Yeah, but you never gave me a hassle about yours.”

“Then I guess I was too easy on you.” Gabriel stopped in front of Leo and held out his hand, which Leo didn’t hesitate to take, letting Gabriel pull him to his feet. And he didn’t let go.

Jealousy rose, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Goddess, how stupid was she? Forcing a smile, she reached out to ruffle Leo’s too-long bangs.

“Did you learn a lot, bud?”

Leo nodded, looking a little unsure now that he was standing in front of her, unsure how she would respond. “It was cool.”

Her smile softened at the excitement in his tone. “Then you’ll have to show me. But how about after we get something to eat? I bet you’re hungry.”