“Sebastian?” Barely a whisper before her voice was silenced. Those gorgeous blue eyes seemed to widen in surprise even as Lily sensed Eve’s desperate attempt to pull her free. She wanted to go to her friend, to her goddess, but the power in those mesmerizing eyes sucked her down, deeper into a shimmering pool of power, until she was nothing more than a wisp of energy. A tiny breath of life clinging to a mere shred of reality.
A scream. Far, far away, she heard an angry scream.
“No. You can’t have her. Go! I command it!”
Lily sensed a small pop, as if a tiny bubble had burst. Then all was darkness and silence as she tumbled bonelessly into utter emptiness.
Blinking rapidly, shaking his head in confusion, Sebastian pushed himself up from the wood floor in his bedroom and leaned against the edge of the bed. As his head slowly cleared, the pain set in. Every muscle, every joint, every bit of him inside and out ached. His stomach lurched, and he thought he was going to throw up. A few deep breaths brought the nausea under control.
For now. He gazed about, wondering how he’d ended up here. He’d been lying spread eagle in the midst of the pentagram, his body naked, his wrist bleeding when he’d cast the spell.
The last thing he recalled was staring through heavy mist and seeing Lily. On the astral? Only his spirit should have moved from the place of magic he’d created, but somehow, he’d either been tossed out of the pentagram or he’d made it here, entirely across the big room, on his own. He couldn’t remember.
Blood dripped slowly from the shallow cut he’d made across his wrist, pooling on his naked belly, but otherwise he didn’t think he’d hurt himself. He was erect. Now that was weird, but he was hard as a post, his cock and balls aching. No matter. He turned slowly. Clutching the frame of the bed for balance, he managed to stand and take the few shaky steps to the bathroom.
He turned on the faucet and thrust his wrist beneath the cold running water, holding it there, staring blankly at the blood dripping into the sink until the wound looked clean. Wrapping a soft white towel around his wrist, he held a washcloth under the running water, squeezed it out one-handed, and wiped the blood off his belly and groin.
Damn, for a small cut, it bled like crazy. He rinsed the cloth and watched the red-tinted water swirl down the drain.
He shut off the tap and turned away from the sink. His cock bobbed against his belly. He often grew aroused when casting spells, but generally returned to his flaccid state once the spell ended. Obviously that wasn’t the case today.
He still felt light-headed. The room slowly spun. He grabbed at the door frame with his uninjured right hand and stared at the mess he’d left in his bedroom. Smears of blood from the self-inflicted slash on his wrist left garish streaks on the pale oak flooring. The bloodstained lancet he’d used to cut himself still lay safely locked within the pentagram he’d etched in charcoal in the middle of his bedroom floor.
The stink from the burning candle sitting beside the bloody blade almost made him gag.
Carefully, he pushed himself away from the door and stumbled to the edge of the pentagram. Kneeling just outside the carefully drawn design, he leaned across without touching it and blew out the sputtering candle. His nose wrinkled against the stench of burned blood, and he swallowed convulsively, once again fighting the urge to puke.
He’d followed the instructions perfectly, but where had he actually gone? He’d not stayed long enough to determine whether or not he’d really been on the astral. And what the hell was Lily doing wherever he’d ended up? She’d seen him, recognized him. He’d heard her whisper his name, but were they on the astral? It felt right, but she was here in San Francisco, wasn’t she?
Well, hell. So was he. Did Lily travel the astral? But how? Was she that much stronger than he?
Head still reeling, his gut churning with nausea, he sat back on his bare butt on the cold floor and stared at the red seeping slowly through the towel.
The blood fascinated him, even as it repelled him. Was this what was meant by a step too far? As the thought entered his mind, his erection quickly deflated.
Fear did that to a man.
He wanted power like his father’s, but all of the man’s spells, his dark brand of magic, demanded sacrifice. Sebastian had sworn never to cross that line. Nothing justified taking any kind of life for the sole purpose of making his magic stronger.
This time, he’d skirted the edge. He’d tried something new, but had he gone too far? Blood magic merely required blood. Nothing he’d read in any of his research defined the source of the blood needed for the spell to walk the astral, beyond the fact it must come from a living, warm-blooded creature.
Nothing said he couldn’t use his own. Even so, the moment he felt the sharp bite of the lancet slicing across his wrist, Sebastian knew he’d gone beyond anything he’d ever attempted. Everything had changed when those few drops of blood dripped into the flame.
The small candle hadn’t sputtered at all—no, it had flared brighter and higher until its brilliant flame lit the entire room. He’d lay there, bare back flat to the cold floor and watched as a gateway
somewhere
had opened like the aperture in an old camera, slowly at first, then bursting wide in brilliant color as if inviting him to come inside.
An entire dimension had opened up to him.
Along with Lily Cheval. Rubbing his hand over his eyes, he tried to remember exactly what he’d felt when he saw her. What he’d thought. And he realized his first thought was,
What the fuck is Lily doing there?
He hadn’t noticed the one beside her until she’d shouted at him, blasted him with her power.
Lily was strong, but the one who remained hidden in the shadows was at least as powerful as his father, if not stronger. Her shout still vibrated through his body like a physical blow. Her words had rattled him so badly, he hadn’t been strong enough to hold on to his magic.
Had she been strong enough to throw his physical body out of the pentagram? He doubted even his father had that much power.
He felt dirty from the blood magic, as if he were shrouded in some sort of evil filth. He needed a shower, though he wondered if he’d ever wash away the feeling that he’d stepped into something foul. Something wrong.
Damn it, he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was his own blood. Nothing died, and the cut barely hurt. No sacrifice at all. So why was he so sure that using blood had tainted the spell?
Because he knew. He’d felt the evil, the sense of malevolence that seemed to shadow his every move from the moment he’d dripped his blood onto the flame. Blood had fouled the spell even as it strengthened it. He couldn’t explain it, but he could still feel it. And for whatever reason, it felt very much like his father’s energy. Almost as if his father had been with him, a silent passenger as he accessed the astral.
Impossible, wasn’t it? His stomach roiled.
What the hell had he just done?
“Lily? Lily, are you all right?”
Blinking slowly, Lily struggled back to consciousness, feeling as if she pulled herself out of a deep, viscous pool. Rubbing a hand across her eyes, she slowly sat up. “Eve? What happened ?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. Who was that person? You said a name. Sebastian?”
Lily nodded as memories surfaced. “Sebastian Xenakis. I’m sure it was him.” She shook her head, hard, in an attempt to clear her thoughts. “Yeah. It was him. His eyes are so unusual, and the sense of him was strong. There’s no doubt in my mind, but the feel of him was all wrong. Eve, he’s the reason I wanted to talk to you, but now . . .” She shuddered. “Now, I’m afraid.”
Eve clutched Lily’s hands in both of hers. “You think you love him? I can feel the need in you. You see him as your mate, don’t you? They’re strong, Lily, the feelings you have for this man, but he’s evil. Didn’t you sense it? That malevolence?”
Lily shook her head. “No . . . I mean yes, I did sense it, but I don’t think that whatever feels so wrong is really him. I would have noticed it last night. We were completely intimate, our minds every bit as synchronized as our bodies. He was wonderful. Open and good, not this. Not this sense of evil. I can’t explain it.” She squeezed Eve’s hands. “I need to see him. Need to talk to him and find out what’s going on.”
Eve began shaking her head long before Lily finished her thought. “Lily, I’ve got to caution you against that. There’s something terribly wrong about him. You have to stay away from that one. I recognize the taint clinging to his magic. It’s the same as what’s causing the disruption here. I’m almost positive he’s the one destroying my world.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Lily forced Eve to meet her steady gaze.
After a moment, the goddess lowered her eyes. “I believe he is the one. I hope I’m wrong. You know I can’t force you to my will. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. Promise me, Lily. Promise me you won’t take any chances. I think he’s very dangerous.”
“There’s definitely danger, Eve, but I’m not so sure it’s coming from Sebastian. I’m convinced it has something to do with his father and with the murders of all those young women, but I have no way of proving it. Not yet, but I do have some questions for you. Things I’m hoping you can find out for me.”
Eve smiled. “Things you hope will clear your young man?”
Lily couldn’t smile in return. Not with so much evidence against him. “I hope so, Eve. I really do. I hardly know him, but . . .” She shrugged. “I’ll be careful.”
When she finally returned to her parents’ home in Montana, Lily had Eve’s promise to learn what she could about the huge wolves that had attacked them on Mount Tam. She’d asked about Sebastian’s mother, too, but Eve’s answer was less than satisfactory.
Unless the Chanku blood ran hot and strong in his mother’s veins, since she hadn’t taken the nutrients and allowed her wolven nature to manifest itself before her death, there was no way for Eve to know if the woman might have been Chanku.
Lily would have to give the nutrients to Sebastian.
And that would mean seeing him again. Getting close to him, gaining his trust.
Eve hadn’t been at all happy about that. Lily, however, silently thanked the goddess for giving her just the excuse she needed.
She left the astral plane, slipping through the portal and into the cavern where she’d begun her journey. Movement caught her eye, a ripple in the pond, and Lily went perfectly still, scanning the surface of the water while staying in the shadows.
She heard a soft laugh, a familiar voice, and she relaxed. “Hey, Alex. What’re you doing down here?”
Alex laughed and said, “Hiding from Tinker.”
“What? But why?” She walked around the pool to the far side. Alex stood in water that lapped around his thighs, his nude body so perfectly sculpted, his obvious arousal creating its usual havoc with her senses. Maybe this was what she needed to settle her rattled nerves. Sex with Alex always calmed things down.
Then she realized he wasn’t alone. She caught a glimpse of a slim arm snaking around his waist and realized a woman stood behind him. If he’d brought that bitch Jennifer into the caverns, her dad was going to be furious. It was an unwritten but closely held rule: no one was allowed unless they were pack. “Alex, please tell me you didn’t bring . . .”
A small, dark sprite dressed in wet cutoffs and a tank top slipped around Alex. “Hi, Lily. It’s okay. It’s me. Annie.”
“Annie? I would never have recognized you! When did you get back? Oh my god! You cut all your hair!” How many years had it been since they’d seen each other? Lily burst out laughing. “Goddess, girl! Last time I saw you, you were still a little twerp with long frizzy hair and skinny legs.”
“Thanks loads. I really needed to hear that. Again.” Annie punched Alex’s shoulder, laughing as she stepped out of the pool with Alex right behind her. She threw herself into Lily’s arms for a hug. Her slim arms and surprisingly long legs left wet splotches on Lily’s jeans. Lily stepped back, but then she got a better look at Annie.
Gently she traced the dark bruise on Annie’s left cheek. “Sweetie, what happened?”
Annie shot a quick glance at Alex and sighed. “A couple of jerks cornered me in town. Alex rescued me.” She gazed at him with a look of absolute hero worship.
Lily tried to catch Alex’s eye, expecting his usual twinkle, but he was staring at Annie as if the sun rose and set with her smile. Lily felt an unwelcome twist of something in her chest.
Jealousy? No, at least not of Annie. Maybe of what Annie and Alex seemed to have discovered. And of course, her thoughts chose that moment to drift to Sebastian. Damn.
“I’m just thankful I showed up when I did,” Alex said. He wrapped an arm around Annie’s slim waist. “Three big guys had her cornered.” He ran his fingers over her unharmed cheek, and when he glanced at Lily, she almost sighed.
It looked as if Alex might have found the one. Only his true love wasn’t working dark magic and fucking with the astral plane, blast it. She shoved Sebastian Xenakis out of her head. “Me too,” she said. “Any idea who they were?”
Annie shook her head. “Alex’s girlfriend Jennifer acted like she knew them, but I’ve never seen them before. Of course, I’ve been away for so long that I’ve lost touch with a lot of people I might have recognized before.”
“I told you, Jennifer isn’t my girlfriend.” Alex focused entirely on Annie. “And after tonight, I don’t think she’s even my friend. Not after the way she acted.” He glanced at Lily before looking at Annie again. “Jennifer showed absolutely no compassion for what happened. It’s like she thought it was all a big joke. Friends like that I don’t want or need.”
Lily nodded. She knew how that was. Humans were often fascinated by Chanku, but so jealous that they seemed to relish bad things happening to shapeshifters.