Irresistible Magic (35 page)

Phoebe wrapped a hand around my arm. “Are you sure about this?”

I avoided her gaze and nodded. “If this drains me, can you get me to a clinic?”

She squeezed my hand. “Of course.”

Link nudged my leg and, still in his wolf form, dropped to lie at my feet. He was a mess. Patches of fur were gone and his tail was bleeding. He needed a healer, too, but his injuries didn’t appear to be life threatening. I ran a hand over his head and neck. “Are you okay, buddy?”

He rested his head on his paws and waited.

“We’ll get you fixed up as soon as possible.”

I sat beside Allcot, thankful I’d at least stopped shaking, and rested one hand over his heart and the other over mine. The only way I’d been able to bring David back was by reaching deep inside myself and pouring love into my magic. I didn’t love Allcot, but my love for David was still right where I’d left it. Locked away in the depths of my heart.

“Kneel across from me,” I told David. He did as I said and with my hands in place, I studied him, hoping that would help me tap into whatever I’d done before when I’d brought him back. It was tough, because he was all blood and gore. He didn’t look at all like himself. Though underneath the blood spatter, he did appear to be pale again, all traces of his sunburn gone. Interesting. Had Asher’s blood healed him?

“Willow?” David asked.

“Yeah?”

“You can do this. I know you can.”

I nodded, realizing he thought I was hesitant. Well, I was, to a certain extent. But not for the reasons he thought. In order to bring back Allcot, I was certain my feelings for David were going to rise to the surface. I wasn’t sure I could handle that on top of everything that had already happened.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I locked eyes with David and got lost in the blue brilliance reflecting back at me. My magic built from deep inside my gut and sparked to life. I shook my head. No. I needed this magic to come from my heart. That felt right. That’s what had worked before.

I focused on memories of David. The times we’d curled up on my couch watching movies, late dinners in the French Quarter when he’d been human, the bedroom picnic we’d had just last week. Warmth ignited in the middle of my chest, growing into a small ball of magic.

There. That was it. But I’d need more. I let myself relive the moment David and I had first kissed, the gentle way he’d cuddled Link the night I’d brought him home for the first time, and finally the day he’d told me about his dreams to have a family. The one he’d never have now, because of me.

My heart swelled and I clutched at the memories until the magic pulsed in time with my heartbeat.

Now.

I pressed down on Allcot’s chest and imagined pulling his life force from deep inside him. Nothing.

Damn. Allcot still had some spark in him somewhere. He wasn’t gone yet. “Stay with me, Eadric,” I mumbled and pressed my fingers harder to his marbled chest. I imagined a metaphysical connection to his being, and then after a moment, something flickered. There. I’d found it. A small twinge of his energy connected with my fingers. Coaxing the threads with my mind, his energy reluctantly flowed into me, shooting searing pain straight to the ball of pulsing magic in my chest.

I groaned and slumped over Allcot but didn’t break the connection.

“Willow?” Phoebe called, worry clouding her tone.

I shook my head, indicating I didn’t want to be interrupted. I didn’t remember experiencing pain when I’d changed David. But I’d blacked out, so I couldn’t say for sure.

Gasping in deep breaths of air, sweat ran down my back as I used every last bit of my waning strength to force the magic into him. The connection between us pulsed back and forth, almost as if in limbo, trapped between us. “Come on,” I mumbled and bore down on the magic, willing it to move. Then something broke loose and suddenly my magic spilled into him, flowing easily from my fingertips into him. “Oh my goodness, it worked,” I said in surprise and pulled my hands away, my body swaying from the loss.

When I’d saved David, my magic had kept bouncing back into me. This time was different. Allcot didn’t give me a chance to wonder why. He sat straight up and stared at me with wide, stormy gray eyes.

I sent him a weak smile and then let my eyes close as I collapsed in an exhausted heap. I don’t know if I lost momentary consciousness or if I fell asleep, but I woke to a cool cloth pressed to my forehead.

“Tal?” I mumbled trying to focus through blurry eyes.

“Shh, relax,” a deep, familiar voice said. A voice that was definitely not Talisen’s.

No, this was David. And his touch was so gentle and welcome, I closed my eyes again. “Is Eadric all right?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“He’s fine. Don’t worry about any of that right now. We have a healer coming. Then we can talk.”

They called a healer. That meant Talisen hadn’t been bluffing. I hadn’t truly believed his threat. A loss that had nothing to do with magic or life energy materialized and took over until my insides felt empty. It was more painful than the physical fire of a vampire’s touch.

David pulled the cool rag from my head. My eyes popped open in protest. He leaned down and pressed a cool kiss to my temple and whispered, “Thank you. You have no idea what you’ve given me.”

He pulled back. I stared up at him, not answering. I had a pretty good idea of what I’d given him and it was exactly why I’d saved Allcot in the first place.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked.

“Water?” I croaked, though I wasn’t thirsty at all. I only wanted a moment to myself to process the emotions threatening to overtake me. I wanted Tal. Wanted his healing touch. His kind eyes. And his arms around me, keeping me safe.

“I’ll be right back.” David retreated. I didn’t know how long I’d been out, but it must not have been for long because I recognized the French doors and the four-poster bed. It was the room David and I had broken into. Why were we still here? Wasn’t anyone worried Asher or his people would come back? I tried to prop myself up and slip from the bed, but I was too weak.

A few minutes later, footsteps sounded in the hall and the door swung open with a squeak. David was back, though I wasn’t ready to face him or anyone. The fact that Talisen wasn’t there, that he’d left, hurt me more than anything David had ever done. Even his breakup text. I
needed
Tal. If I hadn’t been in my enemy’s house, I would’ve curled into a ball and stayed there.

Instead, I reluctantly rolled over to face David. But then I froze and my heart started to race.

“Agent Rhoswen,” the faery said.

I gulped. “Director.”

Chapter 27

“I’m glad to see you’re awake.” Director Halston smiled, but her tone was far from friendly. “The healer will be up in a moment. After she’s finished, please join us down on the main floor.” She swept back out of the room, leaving me alone once more.

Oh shit. Join us.
Who was us? And who had called her? Not Phoebe, surely. How much did she know? A weight of foreboding settled over my chest. Was the Void a part of all this? Had I been their target again? My mind jumbled. Nothing made any sense.

The door squeaked again and this time a tall slender blonde poked her head into the room. “Willow? Is it okay if I come in?”

My gaze flicked to the canvas backpack slung over her shoulder. “Only if you have painkillers in that bag.”

She chuckled. “Not exactly, but I think I have something better.”

Even in my battered state, I couldn’t help but notice her inner light, both peaceful and magnetizing.

She stopped at the edge of the bed and dropped her bag to the floor. “Do you mind if I sit?”

I shook my head, swallowing the lump lodged in my throat. Talisen should’ve been the one sitting next to me, the one to place his sure and gentle hands on my body. Not this stranger from the Arcane. How could he just leave?

“I understand you used some unusual magic this evening,” Blondie said.

“You could say that,” I mumbled and stared at the door, willing Talisen to appear. It wasn’t that being healed by someone else would be unpleasant, it was that Tal had always been there for me before. I knew he was hurt himself, but he’d been clear he was staying away as a consequence of my choices, not because he couldn’t heal us both. I knew him. If he hadn’t been so upset with me, he would’ve never let someone else take his place.

It was the rejection that left me empty and alone, my heart torn in two.

“I’m Sierra. If you don’t mind, I’m going to run my hands over your torso and limbs to get an idea of the damage.”

I nodded my agreement and stared at the wall.

The second her hands made contact, my back bowed and I nearly flinched right off the mattress. “Ouch! Stop. I can’t take it.”

She broke the connection. I lay panting, my insides more raw than ever.

“That’s never happened before,” I choked out between breaths.

Her brows knit together. “It’s like you’ve been charred from the inside out.”

That was exactly what it felt like.

“How did this happen?” she asked.

I met her curious hazel eyes. She was a healer, not my superior, and I was under no obligation to divulge any details. “Classified,” I said.

Disappointment registered in her slight frown, but she didn’t press the issue. Instead, she rummaged through her canvas bag until she found a silver tin and a bottle of water. She flipped the lid and took a pinch of dried herbs, which she held over my mouth. “Swallow these.”

I choked the bitter seeds down with the help of the water, gagging in the process. My tongue darted out and I had to fight to keep from scraping it clean of the foul substance. “Ugh, what the hell is that shit?”

She tossed the tin back in her pack and regarded me with a critical stare. “That shit is going to stabilize you so I can put you back together without you coding from shock.”

The herb hit my bloodstream, instantly numbing the aches and pains. “Oh my Goddess,” I said in a barely audible whisper.

“Amazing isn’t it? Hibiscus seeds cured with a healing balm. Tastes like shit, but it works every time.” She moved her hands over my body, but I barely felt a thing other than the sweet relief of her magic cooling my charred insides.

Her healing gift was very different from Tal’s and for that I was grateful. Any magic that was similar to Tal’s would’ve likely made me break down in tears. That was the last thing I wanted to do in front of the Arcane healer. She trailed her hands over each bruised section, lingering on the worst wounds, and poured her cool magic into me until I was almost buzzing. It was so different than Tal’s magic. With her, she was filling me up with magical energy and using her coolness to numb parts of my body.

With Tal, his magic seemed much more natural. Effortless. As if all he had to do was touch me and my wounds were healed. I shut my eyes and tried not to think about him. He wasn’t here. Sierra was. After she pulled her hands away, I smiled up at her. “Thank you.”

She picked her bag up and slung it over her shoulder. “You’re welcome.” With a nod, she headed toward the door.

“Wait,” I called, sitting up too quickly. My head swam from the sudden movement. She’d cured my aches, but my energy level wasn’t even close to normal. Not quite the treatment I would’ve gotten from Talisen, but at least my insides didn’t feel like they’d been filleted with a razor.

She paused at the door with her eyebrows raised. “Did you need something else?”

“Those seeds. If you’re interested, I can probably turn them into something that doesn’t make you want to cut your tongue out.”

“I doubt it,” she said.

I shrugged and stood on wobbly feet. “Doesn’t hurt to try.”

She studied me, a puzzled expression on her flawless porcelain face. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you care what it tastes like as long as it works?”

I stiffened, feeling ridiculous because of my involuntary physical reaction. “I own a magical bakery. I believe all magical substances should taste good. Who wants to buy a Kiss Me chocolate if it doesn’t make your mouth happy?”

She snorted, the wrinkling of her nose messing up her perfect beauty. “My healing seeds aren’t for sale.”