The COMPLETE Witching Pen Series, Boxed Set (6 page)

After Karl had left, she'd turned the telly on to get her mind off the guilt overwhelming her. Some black and white B-horror movie was on. Maybe her mistake was leaning her head on the cushion, but one minute, she was staring at zombies devouring the inhabitants of a village one by one while her mind tortured her with replays of what she'd just done, and the next, she was staring at a pair of green eyes.

No!

With a start, she threw herself backwards, only to realise she was floating in the blackness of space, stark naked, and the eyes were floating after her.

Leave me alone!

A cruel laugh encircled her and took on solid form around her body – a snake – some kind of giant python squeezing the life out of her, and then it shattered into a million little snakes that slithered across her body. She couldn't figure out if her skin was crawling because of the snakes or her repulsion.

Bile rose in her throat and she would have vomited were it not for the fact that she was scared shitless. Snakes found their way to her wrists and ankles, forming shackles around all of them, somehow pinning her to the blackness. She was bound to nothing in outer space and her struggle for freedom only seemed to anger the snakes, which tightened their hold on her.

The green eyes hovered in front of her, about two heads higher than her, then the blackness shimmered around them and form materialised – masculine, muscular, cracked, grey.

“Careful now – my snakes like to bite.”

She could feel his laughter on her skin, heating it up. His fingers traced her chest, in the same way hers had Karl's earlier.

“Who's been a very naughty girl?”

“Leave me alone.” Her demand was made through clenched teeth that tried to hide her fear and exhaustion.

His fingernails scorched her as he raked them along her skin, again mimicking her own earlier actions. They flitted over her nipples and she gasped in both alarm and disgust as her body began to respond. Desire flitted through her like a mini electric shock. How the hell could such a monster have this affect on her?

“You're just like me – you belong to me.”

“No.” But her mind wouldn't move away from her own forced seduction upon her best friend, and her protest did not carry the conviction of the previous night.

“Did he beg you to stop or to carry on?”

From somewhere inside, a spark of anger came to life. “What did you do to me?”

“It's not something that's been done to you – it's something you are. Your magic is powerful.”

“It's not black magic.”

“Oh, but it could be.”

His hand travelled down her body. She knew where he was heading.

“I could show you how – you could be my queen.”

From very far away, she heard her name and it was enough to ignite her soul into fight mode. She fought for some kind of control.
Elena – she was Elena. She was not evil.
She concentrated on her name, trying to form it on her tongue. Instead she moaned when his fingers trailed beyond her curls and found her virgin opening.

“Elena...”
 

“Will you beg me to stop, or carry on?”

She bit her tongue, terrified the wrong words would roll off it if she dared to speak. The wrong words would mean he would have her permission to claim her, of this she was sure.

“Elena...”
 

Karl! It was Karl's voice. She tried to shout out his name, but every time she opened her mouth another moan escaped. A wet heat was building between her legs, fuelled by rough fingers that had no right to know her needs so well.

“Elena!”

His voice was more urgent now, more near.

“Karl?” It was barely a whisper.

“Yes! Again, say my name again.”

Dimensions were shifting. The fabric around her was flickering from black to magnolia – outer-space to living room. Green eyes shifted to blue, then back again.

“Karl.”

“That's it, come back to me.” The desperation colouring his voice strengthened her resolve. But just before she finally wrenched herself free from the demon, his kiss branded her just above her pubic bone.

“You will give yourself to me...”
 

And then she was in her living room, fully back in her body, baking hot, aching, too aroused...

Karl had pulled her up to sitting and was cradling her, his eyes full of concern, and a hint of guilt, but none of the anger or hurt from earlier.

Relieved, she burrowed herself into him, clung to him, breathed in his scent and …
No!
 

With a choked sob, she threw herself free from his grasp and to the other side of the room.

“What … Elena it me, it's okay.”

“No, I can't...”

Kneeling, he stopped in front of her collapsed form. “You can't, what?”

She buried her head in the knees that she hugged tightly to her chest. She had to force her words out and she hoped he could hear them, because she couldn't speak any louder.

“I want you … I wanted you … earlier. And I couldn't stop it, and I couldn't control it. What I did to you, it was all because I want you. I'm just as bad as he is.”

Everything around her seemed to still. Snakes and shadows licked at the parameters of her soul, trying to suck her back into their world, trying to change her. Fear grabbed at her – the demon was no longer here, yet there was darkness in her, she could feel it. Where had it come from? Had it always been there?

“It's not something that's been done to you – it's something you are...”
 

She squeezed her eyes shut against his words and reached within herself, trying to find the light, any source of light that could chase away the shadows.

Hands, as warm as the sun on her skin, gently took her wrists. The shadows grew smaller. The hands trailed its warmth up her arms and pulled them away from her head, letting in a light she didn't know was there. It warmed her. It filled her soul. This was some kind of new magic she wasn't familiar with. The snakes slithered away. A break in her internal cloud let in the light, and black began to fade into colour.

She leaned into Karl's hand, which now held her face, stroking her cheek, with a tenderness that she knew belied his need for her. His thumb stroked her bottom lip. When she opened her eyes, he was just an inch away, his eyes brimming with compassion and love.

I'm in love with him.

The realisation took her breath away. It overwhelmed her, and a stubborn slither of fear wrapped itself around her heart – this was too much. It was a love that was doomed; she'd only end up hurting him.

“Karl
—”
 

“Sshhhh...”
 

His lips touched hers, and fear, darkness, doubt, even demons, all disappeared into the nothingness they'd come from. All that existed was warmth and light.

~*~

Katherine knew he was in the room before she walked in. It was a type of energy, an essence exclusive to the Shanka that thickened the atmosphere, heated it up, so that all you could think about was how the air felt on your skin. How
they
felt on your skin. The Shanka were the very first incubi. For millennia, they had been seducing humans, stealing their seed, or filling them with theirs, all so they could penetrate this world – the world from which they had been outcast, and the one they must never be a part of, for they would destroy everything in it. So far, their power over life and death was as immaterial as they were, only able to become reality through dreams … and the mysterious witching pen.

The demon now filtrating her bedroom was a stark and bitter reminder to Katherine, that the person she loved more than anyone else in the world, the one she had so desperately tried to protect all these years, was in imminent danger of losing more than her life. And she didn't know how to stop it.

“Did you really think you could keep her from me, Katherine? Did you think I wouldn't know?”

Her breath caught in her throat as those green eyes glinted from the shadows of her unlit room. It had been a long time since she'd seen him. Not long enough. She had to remind herself he was only a shadow – he couldn't hurt her like this, despite the utter blackness that filled the room.

With a composure that came from years of practise, she wrapped her iciness around herself. Like a familiar friend, it strengthened her resolve and steeled her soul against the fear that had lived in her too long.

“Nathaniel. How has kingship been treating you?”

A laugh, low, rumbling, caressed her skin and she shivered. “So, you have been watching us, making notes. I was supposed to see you dead for killing Darius; the Shanka were up in arms. But you did me a favour.”

“You should have killed me.”

“I should kill you now, for keeping such a phenomenal secret from me all of these years. Maybe your death will erode her defences; maybe she'll turn to me in the darkest hour of her secret thoughts while she mourns you.”

“She hates me. I've seen to it. There is nothing that will make her turn to you, Nathaniel. You have no hold over her.”

“And the boy?”

Katherine blanched.
Damn it!
 

“Did you know he has the power to pull her from me?”

She held his gaze, saying nothing.

“She loves him, doesn't she? Not even love can keep one from the shadows of their heart, you of all people should know that.”

She mentally gave herself a new coat of frosting, refusing to go down that particular road of her past, and kept her gaze steady.

“I would have thought you would have wanted to keep her from that kind of hurt. No matter. He'll be easy to kill.”

“That
boy
is stronger than you think.”

“I didn't say
I
was going to kill him.”

She took in a sharp breath, the implication of his words sinking in.

“You never told her, did you? My, my, Katherine, what will you do? By trying to protect her, you've set her up for a world of pain … and now you've run out of time. She will have no choice but to turn to me.”

She blinked back hot tears, his words ringing with truth. “She will
never
go to you willingly.”

“There are very few things, in any world, thicker than blood.”

Her lip trembled. “How did you find out?”

His smile was thin, cruel. “I had no idea at first. I only knew she was a powerful witch, the first thirteenth generation witch for centuries. Powerful enough to wield the pen, so I gave her the pen, intending to have her bring down the veil of your dimension with it, so we could finally walk through.

“Then I visited her in her dreams last night and I could
smell
it under her skin – her blood –
our
blood. I held in my arms a thirteenth generation witch with Shanka blood flowing through her veins. I knew instantly who her mother must be. Until that moment, I had no idea what Darius had seen in you. Then all the pieces fell into place. He'd planned it all.

“You've done well to shield her from us, Katherine, but you've failed. She's our salvation – she
belongs
to us, and I
will
claim her.”

Chapter Six

The first thing she realised on opening her eyes was that her sleep had been dreamless, the second was that a warm body was firmly wrapped around her, one arm slung around her waist in a protective hug.

The dawn was only just breaking, streaking the duskiness of the bedroom with hues of pink. With a smile, she gently turned. Karl groaned, but didn't wake and his breathing remained slow and steady. The man who never slept deeply seemed to be out cold.

Elena studied his face. She'd always thought he was something of an anomaly. Most people looked young when they slept, their relaxed features bringing out a vulnerability, and a peace and innocence most never got to see. With Karl, it was the exact opposite. When
awake
, he looked young and innocent, even boyish. Most people thought him around twenty-two, not the twenty-seven years he actually was, and if it weren't for the fact that he was generally too broad and well built for a man that young, no one would ever question it. When he slept, however, he looked ancient. His skin was still smooth, he still looked at peace, but his visage seemed to hide a world of knowledge only he could access. She'd noticed it in the past, when they'd stayed up late chatting and he'd fallen asleep on the couch, or even once sitting at the kitchen table, his head just missing a plate of nachos.

He looked that way now – wizened, with a hint of warrior about him – and anything but vulnerable. She put it down to his family troubles and having to overcome such violence, a past that echoed through him as he slept. Yes, she felt safe in his arms – she always had, she'd just never realised it.

He murmured something incoherent and huddled further into her. Her smile widened when she realised exactly what was pressing so firmly against her thigh. God, this was Karl –
Karl!
Her best friend!

She bit back a giggle, not wanting to wake him, but her joy soared silently. How the hell she'd never noticed how she felt was beyond her. Just the feel of him next to her was sending delicious sensations throughout her entire body. She remembered last night, how light and warmth had cascaded through her 'til there was nothing left but total contentment – just with one kiss. How did he do that? Was that what love was? Did everyone in love feel like that when they kissed? And what about … when they did more?

She heated up at the thought of it. This was an area of her life she felt completely lost in – she may as well still be a teenager. It was as if that emotional part of her had stopped developing when her mum had sat her down and told her all about why she would have to die a virgin. Sure, she'd pleasured herself, she knew how to do
that
. She'd read everything she could about sex in books, online, absorbed all kinds of stories from others at school, she'd looked at pictures in dirty mags, hell, she'd even watched porn a whole bunch of times. But she'd never had the privilege of
feeling
it – growing as a person
with
it. It was always something that she held at arm's length, for obvious reasons. With a sinking feeling, she didn't know how she was going to do that any more, because she wanted Karl in ways she never knew was possible.