Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (33 page)

“No one studies the skies, the flights of the birds for omens. Those damn PETA people would be all over us if we started slicing up sheep for entrails. Hell, people aren’t even afraid of lightning any more, which would really frost Tinia’s cookies, if the bastard ever decides to show his face on Earth again.”

Her eyes widened at Tivr’s blasphemy but he didn’t take notice.

“The old ways are ignored but we need them, sweets. We knew when we followed our people to the new world…we knew change was on the way.”

He turned and his mouth curved in a toothy grin. “And you’re the front guard. You and your brother. The kid’s strong. So are you. Gabriel’s a good man to have at your back and so is Quinn. Things’ll work out. You’ll see. They have to. Just don’t make any rash decisions.”

As the wolf rose to his paws, Shea remained seated and bowed her spinning head. “Thank you for your counsel, Lord Tivr.”

“Don’t mention it. And I mean that seriously. This little section of woods has become my sanctuary. I’d like to keep it that way. See you around, sweets.”

With a final howl, the wolf turned and disappearing back into the forest.

Holy crap. She’d just had a conversation with a god.

She needed to talk to Gabriel.

* * *

Wrapped in the power of the spell he and Quinn were working, Gabriel wasn’t aware of Shea’s presence until he heard her step into the second-floor map room behind them.

He’d known she wasn’t asleep when he’d stuck his head in the bedroom, but he hadn’t disturbed her. They could all do with down time.

Besides, he needed to get her off his mind. He’d been thinking about her way too damn much. And there was too much at stake for him to forgo common sense and lose himself in her body for one night.

But, damn, he wanted to.

His tongue tripped over a word and he felt the power around him shift. Shit. He needed to concentrate. He was searching for signatures, life signatures that would pinpoint any persons of Etruscan descent in a fifty-mile radius. His father could have done a hundred miles, but he wasn’t that good. Quinn’s connection to the forces that had built this safe house boosted his powers slightly. It would have to be enough. He couldn’t allow anything—

“Shit!”

He broke the connection with Quinn and the spell when he realized the stupid mistake he’d just made.

He turned to find Shea’s eyes had rolled back into her head and she remained upright only because her knees had locked.

“Shea, downstairs. Now.”

“Gabriel, I can hear them. The voices. They’re—”

He didn’t wait for her to finish. He ran for her, catching her just as her legs buckled. Holding her against his chest, he took the stairs two at a time back to the first floor.

She was incoherent by the time he got her into the first bedroom he came to.

“Damn, I’m sorry, babe.” He placed her on the bed, completely pissed. “Fuck.”

 “Christ, Gabe. Is she okay?” Quinn asked from behind him.

He shook his head, his gaze glued to Shea. “I don’t know. Hey, babe, can you hear me?”

She didn’t answer. She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut but two tears ran from the corners. He wanted to kick something. How could he have been so stupid not to realize what that room would do to her?

When the hell was he going to stop failing those who needed him?

* * *

Shea never really passed out.

She knew what was going on around her, could hear Gabriel and Quinn talking, heard Quinn leave. She couldn’t speak to tell them she was okay, but she thought she was.

She just couldn’t make her body obey her commands because she was listening to the voices in her head. For the first time in her life, she heard them clearly. Distinct voices, all speaking at the same time.

She knew what those voices were now.

When they started to fade, she opened her eyes and looked directly into Gabriel’s dark, worried gaze.

“Déjà vu, huh?” She smiled, thankful there were no painful side effects from…whatever had happened.

He shook his head and the grooves on his forehead deepened. “I screwed up and you paid. How do you feel?”

“Actually,” she swung her legs over the side of the bed so she could sit up, “I feel fine.”

Gabriel’s hands settled with a warm, steady weight on her shoulders. “Don’t move around too much. You might feel okay lying down, but—”

“I’m okay, Gabriel. Really.” She couldn’t help but smile up at him. “I heard them. The voices. Really heard them. I could understand what they were saying, what they’ve been trying to tell me for so long.”

He released her shoulders and sat back on the chair he’d pulled to the side of the bed. “What do you mean?”

She grimaced as she held up a hand. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going crazy. I heard them. They’re not figments of my imagination or schizophrenia.”

Gabriel’s arms crossed over his chest, and his eyebrows lifted, his expression skeptical. “Oh yeah? So what are they?”

Without thinking, she reached out to cup his jaw with her hands, the rough scrape of his whiskers dazzling her skin. “It’s the women. The cursed
streghe
.”

His expression shifted, became wary. “How do you know?”

“Because I heard my mother.”

He froze for a split second and she saw astonishment quickly followed by doubt flash through his eyes.

Her chest tightened, and she blinked back sudden tears. Damn it, that shouldn’t hurt. She drew back but not fast enough. He caught her hands before she could get far. Still, the damage had been done.

He didn’t believe her. And she cursed him for making her doubt herself.

“Shea, wait.”

“Fuck you, Gabriel.” She lashed out before she could help herself then shook her head, trying to tug her hands away from his. He held on, not enough to hurt, just enough to let her know he wasn’t going to let go.

“Okay, sure.” He nodded as if she’d asked him to clean out her car or feed the dog. “If that’s what you want, no problem.”

She knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her but her breath stuttered in her lungs at the image that popped into her head of Gabriel and her and a bed—

Shit. “Gabriel—”

“Shea, just give me a minute here, okay? I’m not saying I don’t believe you.”

That brought her chin up. “I don’t need you to believe me. I know what I know. I have to go back and try to understand—”

He nodded, his jaw losing the stubborn edge it nearly always wore. “Fine. Great.” He tugged on her hands, wanting her to look up. But she knew if she did, she’d get more pissed off and take a swing at that strong jaw. Or kiss it. “I’m glad you know what’s going on. But you’re not going back up there.”

“What? Why?” Now she did meet his gaze and hers was blazing. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?”

“Shea, listen to me. That room will drain you dry. It might even kill you.”

“What are you talking about?” She pulled away, and this time he let her go. Damn him, she did not miss the warmth of his hands. She scowled that much harder.

“
Versipelli
energy is drawn from nature,” he said. “It’s not inherent, like in the
streghe
. The
versipelli
built that room to funnel power. It intensified your innate power before funneling it right out of you. If you’d stayed much longer, it would have killed you.”

His expression twisted again, and he shook his head, drawing her gaze to his dark hair. He’d lost the leather band that had been holding it back and it waved over his shoulders. He had beautiful hair, almost too pretty to be a guy’s.

“I wasn’t thinking.” He rose and started to pace. “I should have told you to go when I realized you were there. God damn it, you could have been really hurt, Shea.”

He was pissed. She saw it in the way he stalked around the room.

“Gabriel—”

“You’re not going back in there.” He slashed a hand in front of him with so much force she swore she heard it slap the air. “So don’t even think about it.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, ready to let him have it, the stubborn, overbearing, pompous—

He slammed his fist into the wall by the door, exactly as Quinn had earlier today. She swore she heard bones crunch.

“Gabriel!” She jumped off the bed and ran to him, grabbed his hand before he could do it again. “You idiot. What the hell are you doing?”

“
Vaffanculo
, Shea, you could have been killed.”

She looked up and found him staring at her, fear and anger making his dark eyes wild. He was mad at himself, she realized, not with her. It was a strange, warm feeling, to have someone worry about her. It’d been so long.

She took a deep breath and reached for calm. Gabriel had enough mad for the both of them right now. “I’m fine. Gabriel, really. I’m better than fine. Let me see your hand.”

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just stared at her. She couldn’t handle that intensity for long and dropped her gaze to their hands. His knuckles were raw and bleeding. She felt his pain as if it were his own, felt it in her gut. Her Gift reached out to fix him, to make him better.

Or maybe it was the woman who wanted to take him in her arms and—

He flipped his hand and laced his fingers through hers.

She watched their fingers slide together, felt the roughness of his skin against hers. She blinked when he raised his free hand and tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes.

He drew in a breath and she knew, before he lowered his mouth, that he wanted to kiss her.

Oh, please, yes.