Warlock Unbound: Heart's Desire, Book 4 (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Daniel stood watch as Gen attempted to teach Kerry how to use her magic. So far it was going exactly as he’d expected.

“Kerry,” Gen sighed. “Warlocks don’t speak Parseltongue.”

“Damn.” Kerry pouted. “That would have been so cool.”

Daniel bit back his chuckle at Gen’s peeved look. This was the most fun he’d had in weeks.

“What about
wingard
—”

“No.” Gen looked ready to strangle Kerry. “We don’t make feathers fly using fictional words.”

“But they’re not fictional, not entirely. They’re based on Latin,” Kerry argued.

“Just…” Gen pinched the bridge of her nose. “Point your wand at the feather, please.”

Kerry shrugged and did so.

“Now. Think of the feather floating. This is a very simple spell, one that doesn’t truly require words. Only the stronger workings require complexity.”

“I thought you guys rhymed for everything.” Kerry frowned, the tip of her wand trembling as she stared at the feather.

“Focus through the wand, not your eyes. The wand will amplify your power, much as an athame will.” Gen stood and adjusted Kerry’s position until Kerry was sighting down the length of the wand. “There. Try that first. Eventually it will be second nature to use your tools.”

“Shouldn’t it be a simple matter of will? I mean, you say think of the feather floating and it will, but you make use of tools to attain your desired result.” The feather jiggled, and Kerry crowed. “Woot!” Kerry started dancing around the room, singing at the top of her lungs, “I’m a badass! I’m a badass!”

Daniel couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping, earning a glare from Gen. “What? She’s cute.”

Gen’s scowl turned to a soft smile. She shook her head. “Very good, Kerry, but you lost focus and the feather didn’t float.”

“Poo on you for raining on my parade.” Kerry stuck her tongue out at Gen, then sighted down the wand at the feather. “Pow. Float, you motherfucker.”

The feather jerked before ascending at a rapid pace toward the ceiling.

“Yes!” Kerry began her victory dance once more, her hips moving from side to side as she circled under the floating feather. “Float, you bastard.”

Daniel remembered the euphoria of casting his first spell. It wasn’t a feather float, like Kerry was practicing. Instead, his parents had him practice flipping a light switch on and off until he could do it without using his wand.

That joy now infected his mate.

“Okay.” Kerry plopped down on the floor and crossed her legs. “Now what?”

Gen pointed up. “Take the feather back down.”

Kerry glanced up, shrugged, and said, “Down, boy.”

The feather floated gently to the ground, landing right at Kerry’s feet.

“Did you feel that? The power bleeding out of you?”

Daniel frowned. That didn’t sound good, but from Gen’s expression it must have been something normal for warlocks who weren’t yet bound to a power source.

“Yes. That was the backed-up power you told me about, right?” Kerry seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because she didn’t seem worried about it.

Gen nodded. “Once you’re bound to the elemental you choose, that power bleed will feel completely different. You’ll feel power come into you and flow out of you, like you’re a conduit for it rather than the source of it.”

“That makes sense.”

“You then take the energy provided and manipulate it until it does as you wish.”

Kerry tilted her head. “Can I ask something?”

“Of course.” Gen beamed, like a teacher with a prized pupil.

“Why do elementals, gods and demons want to bond with us?”

Gen’s expression froze. “What?”

“Think about it. We get their power. What do they get in return?”

Gen blinked. “Well. I can only answer as an Own. For Her, she gets a warrior willing to use her gifts to hunt down black magic users. As for the others?” Gen shrugged. “A demon gets a willing soul. An elemental gets someone who will act on behalf of the element they represent.”

“Meaning? Because everyone wants me to bond with an elemental, and I’d like to know what bargain I’m making here.”

“Good question. You remember how we discussed a warlock bonded to a fire elemental might direct a forest fire for the best results?” Gen waited until Kerry nodded. “It would be similar work for any of the elementals.”

“So it’s a work-for-hire type of bond?” Kerry grimaced. “That sounds fun.”

“Would you rather work for a demon?” Daniel held up his hands when Kerry pointed the wand at him. “Whoa there, badass. Don’t make me hit the ceiling too.”

“No, but I’d rather not find myself running around at the whims of an elemental, either.” She blew her hair off her face. “Guess I don’t have a choice though. It’s the only choice I can make.”

No, it wasn’t.

Daniel leaned back against the wall, absently listening as Gen continued the lesson. Something was rattling around in the back of his mind, politely tapping to get his attention. Hadn’t they said that there was a way for a warlock to bond with a person? “What about people?”

Gen glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

He needed to know if it truly was possible, and Gen was the best one to ask. “Didn’t we talk about legends of people bonding with warlocks?”

“Yes, but it occurs so rarely that I have no idea what happens to either the warlock or the bond mate.”

“Would it be in the Registry?” Daniel pushed off the wall and began to pace. “If there are successful pairings, it might be there.”

“Most warlocks—”

“I don’t care about most warlocks. I care about one.” Daniel pointed at Kerry. “My warlock.”

Gen bit her lip. “We could try, but all it would say was whether or not the warlock was bound to a person, not what the bond actually entailed.”

“I’m willing to risk it.” If it meant Kerry would not have to bond with something she didn’t want to, he’d throw himself into the bond and never regret it, even if it meant halving his power. It would just take him twice the amount of time to cast rituals, but Kerry would be his in every single way.

His wolf was thrilled with the idea. The image of his wolf panting with glee, his tongue hanging out and a silly doggie smile on its face filled Daniel’s head. “We can do this. My wolf is in agreement. He wants us to do this.”

“That’s one hell of a commitment, especially when we don’t know the consequences.” Gen glanced between Kerry and Daniel. “Are you certain this is the route you want to take?”

“Yes,” Daniel replied before Kerry could even open her mouth.

“Will it hurt him? Or his wolf?” Kerry’s expression was full of fear. “I can’t allow harm to come to either of them.”

While the reason for her fear made him happy, the fact that she felt it at all drove him nuts. “I’ll be okay, I swear it.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Gen?”

“As far as I’m aware of it wouldn’t harm Daniel, but his wolf? I’m not sure.” Gen bit her lip. “There are just too many unknowns.”

“Then let’s make them known.” Daniel put his hand on Gen’s shoulder. “If this works, we can tell those kids of Zach’s that there are alternatives out there for them, more than just demons, gods and elementals.”

“The problem would be convincing other magics to bond with them, but…” Gen nodded, her shoulders straightening. “It’s worth it to save the next generation of warlocks. Let’s try it.”

“Uh, do I get a say in this?” Kerry had her hands on her hips, her wand dangling by her thigh.

“Nope.” Daniel grinned at her, pleased that he’d come up with such a simple solution.

“Oh really?” She pointed the wand at him.

“Would you rather join with an elemental?” The idea that she’d pick something she found distasteful rather than bond with him hurt him to his core.

“No. Of course not.” She sniffed. “But a girl likes to be asked, you know.”

If that was what she wanted, he’d do it. “Will you let me be your magic battery?”

“Yup.” Kerry kissed him on the cheek. “Now let’s get back to teaching me how to be an even bigger badass than I already am.”

Daniel sighed in relief as Kerry and Gen began working together once more. It was going to be all right. Kerry would bond to him, and their magic would blend together forever.

He could hardly wait.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Daniel was crazy, but it was the good kind of crazy. He was giving up so much just to make her happy. She couldn’t imagine being brave enough to offer half her power to someone else, even a lover.

He’d done it without a second thought, insisting it was the best way to give Kerry power without the dangers associated with an elemental bonding. If he was right, and this worked, she’d be closer to him than anyone, even her twin.

Somehow, that seemed right too.

The door to their apartment—and she was truly beginning to think of it as hers—closed behind them. “Damn. Long day.”

“Too long?” Daniel wrapped his arms around her from behind, putting his chin on her shoulder. Whenever they were together he seemed to have this need to touch her, hold her no matter what was going on around them.

“Why? What are you thinking?”

Her hunch was proven correct when his hands slid to her waist. “What do you think I’m thinking?”

“Polka.”

He burst into laughter. “Fuck no. Not even on a bet. But you’re close.”

“Hmm.” She stroked her chin. “Naked mamba.”

“Ooh, one of my favorites.” He kissed the side of her neck and let her go. “But not quite.”

She watched, confused, as he moved over to his stereo. Music filled the room, a soft, romantic tune she’d never have expected from the gruff Daniel.

He turned back to her, his arms open, patiently waiting for her to join him.

Accepting his invitation, Kerry stepped into Daniel’s arms. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve both had a rough time of it. I thought we could just use a little us time.” Daniel danced her slowly through the room, his arms clasped lightly behind her back. “Besides, you cast your first spell. Congratulations, baby.”

“So this is a celebration?” She tilted her head, smiling. “I could go for that. We haven’t had a whole lot to celebrate recently.”

“You made me proud today.” Daniel’s arms tightened. “You’re picking up spellcasting quickly. It took me two weeks to learn to flip a light switch on and off.”

“Really?” She grinned up at him, flushing with pride.

“Yup. You’ll find certain types of spells come easier for you than others. I still have trouble with illusion spells.” He chuckled. “Not nearly as bad as Zach though.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and danced with him. “What did Zach do?”

“Well, it was when we just realized he might be a witch instead of a wizard. The thought that he was also an Own hadn’t crossed any of our minds. We were just glad we might have figured out why his magic always seemed off, or weak. Anyway, Annabelle wanted him to change the color of a flower to purple using an illusion spell. Instead of the flower, he got all of Chris’s living room. And it
wasn’t
an illusion.”

Kerry’s eyes went wide. “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Funniest thing I ever saw. It was like Barney puked all over the place.”

“Ew.” She wrinkled her nose.

“It took Chris, Annabelle and Lana to fix it, but Chris decided to keep the purple in the fireplace tiles to remind him that power wasn’t everything. Family was.”

“That’s sweet.” And just like Chris. She could totally picture him doing that, the big sap. No matter how growly any of the Beckett brothers became, when it came to their family they were big old saps. “Now tell me a story about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

The song changed, still soft and sweet. Had he set this up ahead of time? “Tell me about a spell you messed up.”

Daniel grimaced. “There was this movie I saw where witches used illusions to change their faces. They used the spell to look like one another, and I thought that would be something neat. I could change into Chris or Zach, do something I wanted to do but knew would get me in trouble, and they’d be blamed for it.”

“Not Gareth?”

“Not on a bet.” He shuddered. “Even when we were kids he was the alpha out of the four of us. He’d have kicked my ass if I tried that.”

“So, you changed your face and…?”

He rolled his eyes. “Forgot one little teensy detail.”

“Your scent?”

He nodded woefully. “My dad figured out what was up pretty quick and I got double the punishment. Once for doing what he’d told me not to, which was play with Gareth’s new motorized scooter, and the other for trying to lay the blame on Zach. He told me it was a betrayal of the bond we had, not just between me and him but me and Zach. When Zach found out, he was so hurt by what I tried to do that we both wound up crying and I vowed never to do it again. Ever since, I’ve sucked at illusion spells.”

“It was a pretty nasty thing to do.”

“I was twelve, new to my power, and thought I knew everything.”

“And found out you knew nothing.” She understood better than he thought. “Kelly and I would switch up sometimes, pretending to be each other. I’d take the heat for something she did. Our parents could tell us apart, but our friends we could fool.”

“You wouldn’t fool me, not even for a second.” He pulled her closer so that her head rested on his chest. “Your scent is a part of me now. I’d never confuse the two of you.”

“You’ve met Kelly. Do we smell similar?” She’d always wondered how deep the similarities went. Identical twins weren’t completely identical, at least on a DNA level. Scientists had found that there were minor genetic differences between them.

“Nope. I can tell you’re siblings, but you both have unique scents.” He frowned as if trying to figure out how to explain it to her in a way she could understand. “Think of it like fingerprints. Each fingerprint is unique from person to person, even twins. Your scent is the same.” He inhaled deeply, his chest rumbling in satisfaction. “You smell much better.”

“Let’s see if you say the same thing when I come home after a long shift in the ER and I’m covered in blood and puke.” Man, she missed her job. It wasn’t the ER so much as the desire to help people, to give it her all and save a life or know that she’d done her best against all the odds.

“You want to go back to medicine.”

It was a statement, not a question, so she treated it as such. “Definitely. Healing people is my passion. The work is grueling, the hours are long, and we’re always being bellowed at for one thing or another.”

“Then why do you do it?” Daniel rested his chin on top of her head, their movements slowing down as the talked quietly.

“When someone is wheeled away and you know he’s going to live, it’s the best feeling in the world. I gave them that chance. I eased the pain, made it so they could breathe again. And when someone doesn’t make it, it hurts so badly you want to cry, but you can’t. Someone else needs you, so you move on to the next patient brought in, and pray this time is the time he gets wheeled away rather than covered up.”

“You’ve kept your head no matter what life throws at you. I know I’ve given you a hard time, but I need you to be aware of how I feel.” Daniel rubbed his chin across the top of her head. “It’s an honor to have you as a mate.”

It wasn’t quite the words she’d longed for, but still, her heart skipped a beat. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They danced together in silence. Kerry was simply enjoying the quiet time with her lover, feeling his warmth against her as they moved. Nothing could touch them now, not the Godwins, not a demonic voice. All she needed was right here, in Daniel’s arms.

As the third song ended Daniel kissed her. It was slow and sweet, just as the music was. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else but right here in his arms, holding him tight.

If only he’d told her he loved her, everything would have been perfect. But she was patient. She’d learned to be on the emergency room floor, waiting to see if a patient would respond to their treatment or not. She could wait for Daniel to say those three little words.