Witch's Bounty (18 page)

“Good, because I will too.” She nuzzled his neck. “Maybe we could get under more of the covers. There are a lot of them on the bed. This is Alaska.”

He laughed because he felt so good and because she felt miraculous in his arms. Somehow, they separated for long enough to get into bed. Once they were nestled beneath the covers, she threw a leg over him and positioned his cock back inside her. He dimmed his mage light to a soft glow, and wrapped her in a tender embrace. “You did something so I’d last longer,” he said.

“What makes you think that?” Though her voice was muffled against his chest, he thought he detected a coy note beneath her words.

“Well, if you could make me come on demand, like you did when the demon was trying to seduce me, it makes sense you could alter things in the other direction too.”

She snorted back a laugh. “Gosh, don’t I get to have any secrets?”

He ran his fingers through her wonderful hair. It was like a curtain of living flame, even in the darkened room. “You can have all the secrets you want, darling. Making love with you was unbelievable. I’ve never been so high.”

“No complaints?”

“How could you even ask?”

She snuggled closer against him. “Making love with you was stupendous, astounding, better than my wildest expectations. I could stay in this bedroom with you for a year, and still not feel like leaving your side.”

“There’s a
but
hovering nearby, just beneath those lovely thoughts.”

She swatted his back gently. “No fair, you’ve been peeking inside my head. The
but
is this: we need to sit with Roz and Jenna soon and map our strategy. The demons haven’t gone away—except maybe that one you vaporized with magic.”

He wanted to talk about a lot of things, like how much he loved her and where they’d live, and maybe even adding a second changeling to keep Bubba company, but all that would have to wait. Colleen was right. They needed to outline the next few days. If they couldn’t get the Irichna under better control, all his other plans would never happen.

“We’ll hold a war council in the morning,” he said. “It can’t be far off.”

She nodded. “Yes, first thing. Hopefully, one of the others will have alerted Coven Central about Mathilde.”

“What exactly is that?”

“It’s like a governing board. It doesn’t have any real power, but they do convene a tribunal periodically, and it’s where witches who have misbehaved go to answer for their sins.”

“You said they don’t have any power. So how can they mete out punishment?”

She rolled onto her side and propped her head on an upraised palm. “They don’t have any power over how the Covens manage their affairs, but they do have the authority to excommunicate—or even kill—miscreant witches.”

“If they don’t discipline Mathilde, my first order of business will be killing her.”

Colleen drew her eyebrows together into a serious line. “Normally, I’m pretty pacifistic, except where demons are concerned. But after what she did to Bubba, I’m all over wanting vengeance.” She squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she murmured, “If you hadn’t been in my shop, I would have traipsed back into the house, big as you please, and gotten trapped along with Jenna, Roz, and Bubba.”

He’d come to the same conclusion hours ago, but hadn’t wanted to say anything. After what just passed between them, he tried for a supportive, positive spin. “The three of you are strong, plus three is a power number. You might have prevailed.”

A corner of her mouth turned downward. “It’s a nice thought, but unlikely. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.”

“Anytime.” He kept stroking her hair. “Sleep, love. I don’t need much. I’ll watch over us.”

“Bubba’s in the little room right across the hall,” she said sleepily.

“Never fear.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll keep an eye on him too.”

Colleen closed her eyes. He added a bit of a spell to her body’s own process, and felt her relax in his arms. As he held her, he swore to any deity who might be listening that he’d protect her until the end of time. Maybe she sensed his thoughts, because her lips curved into the softest of smiles.

•●•

Colleen poured herself another cup of coffee, and put another waffle in the toaster for Bubba. The changeling looked himself this morning. For that fact, so did she. Duncan had healed her cuts and bruises while she slept. She poured syrup on the waffle and put it in front of the changeling, who smiled his thanks and started eating. Colleen pulled out her chair and joined the others sitting around the round oak table in the kitchen. She stared at the dregs of breakfast on her plate and decided she’d had enough.

“I still can’t get over that it’s ten in the morning and still dark outside,” Duncan said. “What time does it get light here?”

“This time of year, near the winter solstice, we’re lucky if it’s light from eleven until two or three.”

“Four hours?” He poured more coffee, added cream, and drank from his mug.

“Sometimes as little as three. We’re pretty far north,” Jenna said.

Colleen blew out a breath. They could talk about the weather forever, but it was a smokescreen to avoid what they needed to talk about. “Um, did either of you raise Coven Central?” Roz’s jaw tightened. Colleen didn’t bother snooping in her mind. “When were you going to tell me?” she demanded.

“Roz and I talked about it,” Jenna cut in. “We’d decided after breakfast was time enough.”

Colleen waited, but neither witch offered anything further. Finally, she said, “Is one of you going to tell me, or do I need to raid your thoughts?”

“It wasn’t particularly pretty—” Roz began.

Colleen rolled her eyes. “Yes, I already gathered that. I’ve also figured out they refused to rein in Mathilde, but why?”

“It was odd,” Jenna said, her hazel eyes serious. “Roz and I used the conference call feature on my cellphone so we could both talk with them. They didn’t exactly cop to it, but I’m certain this isn’t the first complaint they’ve had about her.”

Roz worried her lower lip between her teeth. “Not only that. I almost caught a whiff of fear. Like they’re afraid if they force her to answer for her sins, something terrible will happen to them.”

“What’d they tell you to do?” Colleen asked.

“Walk away, and keep as much distance between us and her as we can,” Roz answered.

“They sound about as useful as the Sidhe council,” Duncan muttered. “Lots of talk, but when it comes down to it, they rarely take any significant action.” He met Colleen’s gaze. “What are we going to do?”

Roz and Jenna stared at her. “That’s a very good question,” Roz said through tight lips.

“I want to go back there and kill Mathilde,” Bubba said around a mouthful of waffle.

Duncan reached over and ruffled the changeling’s hair. “Interesting. You and I are in full agreement.”

Roz’s eyes widened. “Do you think that’s wise?” She aimed her question at Colleen, who took her time answering.

“If the witches in Mathilde’s Coven are correct, and she’s truly in league with the Irichna, I don’t see where we have a choice. Her linkage with them will strengthen their ability to breach the veil between the borderworld where they live and Earth.” She slapped her palm against her forehead. “Shit! Not sure why I didn’t think of this before, but Mathilde might be the reason the demons have been gaining strength.”

Duncan quirked a brow. “Hmph. I didn’t think of that, either, but it’s as good an explanation as any.”

“How do you want to do this?” Jenna asked, voice carefully neutral.

“I want to kill her.” Bubba doubled up a fist and brought it down on the table. Dishes and silver rattled. “She used me and almost killed all of you because of it.”

Colleen understood revenge, and the sweet taste of victory when an enemy fell. Every time the gates in the lowest level of Hell slammed shut, with a demon on the other side, she felt richly compensated for the risks she’d taken.

“I know you do,” she told the changeling, “but I think our best ally will be stealth. We need to get in, kill her, and get out, without anyone knowing we were there.”

“I agree.” Duncan nodded.

“So do we,” Jenna and Roz said in unison.

Roz snorted. “Yeah, the last thing we need is someone turning us into Coven Central, especially after they told us to walk away from the problem.”

“Don’t you suppose they’ll know we did it?” Colleen asked.

“Probably,” Duncan said. “But if they’re anything like the Sidhe, they’ll look the other way, while being privately grateful someone had the balls to step up to the plate and do something they were afraid to tackle.”

Colleen poked him with an elbow. “And here you got on me for mixing witchcraft and computers.” She gave him a long, thoughtful look. “I suspect you have a television in a closet somewhere and have spent hours watching sporting events.”

Color spread over his face; he bowed his head. “You got me. Guilty as charged.”

Duncan watched a gradually lighter sky emerge. Nearly noon and it was finally light outside. If it was important to Colleen, they could stay in Alaska, but he hoped she’d want to visit his home in Northern England too. Maybe they could spend chunks of the winter there… Winter days were short in the U.K. but nothing like this.

She came up from behind and wrapped her arms around him, hooking his shoulders. “About ready to leave?”

He untangled himself and turned to face her. “Yes. I still think it would be better if just you and I went.”

“You can’t leave me behind.” Bubba stalked up to them. “I’m the one she hurt.”

Duncan hunkered next to the changeling. “I just want to be sure you’re safe, little man.”

Bubba bristled. “I may be small, but everyone here treats me like a child. I’m not. I’m much older than any of the witches.”

Colleen sat on the floor next to them and looked at Duncan. “Last night, you said Sidhe and fae were formed from similar magic. Where did changelings come from?”

“You don’t have to ask him,” Bubba huffed. “I know the history of my race.”

Colleen smiled. “You’re a born storyteller, sweetie. How about an abbreviated version. We really do need to get going.”

The changeling nodded, looking serious. “We were the spirits in the hills and barrows of the Old Country. Someone, I think Ceridwen, breathed life into us and gave us form, but we retained the earth and root essences from our home.”

Duncan shifted so he sat too. “Which is why changelings are a blend of magics from Ceridwen’s kettle and the natural world.” He patted Bubba’s shoulder. “It’s the mix that makes you strong and able to shape shift.”

Bubba shot him a solemn look. “Don’t forget your promise.”

“I won’t. I’ve already told the Sidhe council they should free your Scottish kinsmen.”

“If they don’t, can you?”

Duncan considered it. “Maybe. If I can locate the threads that bind them.”

Colleen laid a hand on his leg. “If they’re just going to excommunicate you anyway—”

“What?” Bubba cut in. “Why? What did you do? They can’t excom—” he stumbled over the word and forged on, “you, until the changelings are out from under that Sidhe spell.”

“What I did was fall in love with Colleen.”

The changeling’s eyes widened. “Ooooh. Because she’s not Sidhe?” Duncan nodded solemnly.

Roz bustled up. Dark circles ringed her eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

Duncan pushed to his feet and offered Colleen a hand up. “Call Jenna. Let’s go over this one more time. There are lots of holes in the plan we hatched after breakfast. Let’s try to plug as many of them as we can.”

Colleen cupped a hand over her mouth. “Jenna.”

“Be right there,” sounded from upstairs. Footsteps clattered down the risers.

He waited until they were all together. “Jenna and Roz. You’ll show up at the front door and tell whoever answers you’ve rethought their demon problem and are back to help.”

Roz cracked a feral smile. “That part shouldn’t be a problem. They’ll even believe us.”

“Especially after we tell them we sensed a demon leaving their building,” Jenna added. “And we want to talk with as many of them as we can, to see if anyone had run-ins with it.”