Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (40 page)

“Gotcha! I gotcha good, Sissy.”

It took her a minute to orient herself, to remember where they were, why they were here. She drew in a breath to scold him—and then it hit her.

Leo was laughing.

In all the time she’d known him, she’d never heard him so much as a giggle. The sound was so joyful, so normal, that the words died on her tongue, and she could only stare at him. The kid hadn’t said more than a hundred words to her before they’d met Gabriel. And now he was laughing so hard, he had to hold his stomach.

And she realized she didn’t know how long it’d been since she’d laughed.

A year, maybe more?

Way too long.

She felt her smile widen, felt a chuckle begin in her chest until it turned into an all-out belly laugh. It felt good…right. She let herself laugh until her stomach hurt.

Leo stopped long enough to gape at her then started laughing again.

He didn’t expect her to slip off the bed next to him, grab him around the middle and tickle him for all she was worth.

He started to squirm, his little body wriggling as he tried, though not very hard, to get away.

“No, Sissy, stop!”

He didn’t mean it and she knew it. She knew the game. She’d played it with her dad when she’d been Leo’s age. She’d loved to have time all to herself with her dad, when he’d paid attention only to her. They’d talked and laughed like there was no one in the world except the two of them.

Leo lunged away and she let him go, knowing the game for what it was.

“You can’t hold me, Sissy.” He backed away to the other side of the room.

She smiled and lounged back against the bed. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m faster than you think, bud.”

“Nah, you’re just old.”

That lifted her eyebrows. “Old, huh?”

With a simple spell, she bound him to the floor, only long enough for her to grab him and start tickling him again.

Through his laughter, he yelled. “Hey, that’s cheating!”

“All’s fair in love and war, bud, and calling me old was an act of war.”

“Okay, you’re not old.”

She stopped tickling him again, and, with a spell of his own, he bound her, long enough for him to scoot across the floor, out of reach again.

On the other side of the room, he continued to laugh. “Just slow.”

She laughed along with him, but inside she was shaking her head. He’d copied that last spell directly from her. As far as she knew, he’d never learned it. Granted, it was an easy one, but he’d performed it perfectly.

He had so much power. He needed someone to show him how to use it and control it.

Someone who wasn’t her. She stopped laughing with a sigh. “I’m going to have to leave you for a while, Leo. I don’t want to, but there’s somewhere I have to go.”

He dropped his gaze to the floor and started to pick at the hole forming in the knee of his jeans. “With Gabriel.”

“Yeah.”

He bit his bottom lip, as if he were going to cry. “Daddy told me not to leave you, Sissy. Not ever.”

“It won’t be forever, bud. Just for a few days. I promise to come back as soon as I can.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Is Quinn going, too?”

She shook her head, fighting back her own tears. “No. Quinn’s going to stay with you.”

That perked him up. The corners of his mouth picked up a little, and he slid back to her side. “And you won’t be gone long, right?”

“No, I promise. I’ll be back in a few days.” I hope. “I’d take you if I thought it was safe, Leo. I would. But I think you’ll be better off here. Plus, someone else is coming to help.”

“Who?”

“Our Uncle Matt. He’s daddy’s brother.”

Leo nodded, thinking about that one. “Does he look like Daddy?”

Shea had never even thought about it. “I don’t know. I’ve never met him.”

“Do you miss Mommy and Daddy?”

The sharp slice of guilt slid through her chest again. “Every day.”

“Me, too.” He nodded, and she braced herself to see condemnation in this eyes. Instead his smile returned. “But I’ve got you.”

Warmth replaced the guilt, and her eyes flooded with tears. She didn’t let them fall, though, because he might not understand. “That’s right. You do. And I,” she grabbed for him while he wasn’t expecting it, “have you.”

He shrieked as she started to tickle him again, but he got his own licks in, digging his little fingers into her ribs and wiggling them until she had to laugh.

The door slammed open, bouncing off the wall, and Gabriel charged into the room, a short sword in his hand and a fierce scowl on his face.

The intrusion silenced them as they stared at Gabriel, who looked ready to kill something.

“What the hell’s going on?”

After a few shocked seconds, they dissolved into laughter again, Leo curling into a little ball to hold his stomach.

Gabriel’s gaze narrowed, and they laughed harder at his stupefied expression. “
Vaffanculo
, Shea. I thought you were being massacred.”

“Don’t,” she had to stop and take a breath, “swear.”

“Don’t—” He paused, shot a glance Leo, who’d wound down to a giggle, then back to her. “You think this is funny?”

“Mm hmm.” She finally subsided to a chuckle but that wouldn’t last long if Gabriel didn’t lighten up soon. She’d have to laugh at him. And then maybe she’d have to cry.

With deliberate moves, Gabriel lowered the sword and leaned it against the wall before stalking over to Leo. “And you? You think it’s funny, too?”

Leo stretched out, put his hands behind his head and nodded.

With lightning speed, Gabriel grabbed Leo by the ankle and dangled him from one hand. “So who’s laughing now?”

Leo was, as Gabriel lifted him, with no visible effort, until they were almost eye-to-upside-down-eye. The little boy squiggled and squirmed, but Gabriel looked like he could hold him there all day.

“I was coming to wake you,” he told her. “It’s almost six. We usually eat around eight. I thought you and the little laughing hyena here,” he gave Leo a shake that made the little boy laugh even harder, “would like to take a walk.”

Then he grinned at her, nearly stealing her breath away. Didn’t he know she’d follow him anywhere? “Sure. That’d be great. Just…give me a minute.”

She headed for the bathroom as Gabriel lowered Leo onto the bed. She brushed her teeth and hair then stopped to look in the mirror, wondering if she should change her short black t-shirt and faded jeans.

Barely reaching the edge of her ass-hugging pants, the shirt showed off her flat stomach and molded to her decent breasts. With her hair down and without makeup, she looked younger than she was.

Maybe she should—

This isn’t a date, you idiot.

Her reflection wouldn’t stop grinning, though.

With a disgusted huff, she turned and walked back into the room. Leo had already donned his sneakers and climbed onto Gabriel’s back. Their hair was the exact same shade, she noticed. Raven-black and silky. If Leo let his grow, it would probably look exactly like Gabriel’s. Did Gabriel have any brothers? He’d never mentioned any but maybe that was some
grigorio
thing, like not telling anyone who your mother was.

Gabriel’s gaze caught and held hers and desire hummed along her nerves, burning away everything in her brain but the urge to flirt with him. To tease him.

For just a few hours, she wanted to be a normal twenty-three-year old.

But since that wasn’t going to happen, she wanted to have just a little fun before she had to—

No. Probably better not to think about that.

Forcing a smile, she stepped through the door, letting him close it behind her. Then she stopped. This place was a huge maze, and she had no idea where she was going.

She followed Gabriel through the house to a sturdy wooden door. When he opened it, the gray wolf sitting on the outside step turned his head toward them and yipped.

For a second, Shea recalled her encounter with Tivr, which she still hadn’t told Gabriel about. There’d been no time. And she’d been pissed at him, which hadn’t made her talkative.

But she knew this wasn’t Tivr.

“Quinn?” Leo said as he slid off Gabriel’s back to kneel beside the animal and stroke his fur. The wolf leaned back his head so Leo could scratch his throat.

“Yeah, it’s Quinn.” Gabriel sighed. “And he’ll have you do that all day if you let him.”

Quinn shot a growl at Gabriel then trotted off the step, looking back at Leo. Leo, in turn, looked back at Shea.

“Can I?”

Gabriel nodded when she looked to him for guidance. When had that happened, she wondered? When had she started looking to Gabriel for answers?

And when had he become more to her than just Leo’s guardian?

Quinn took off like a bullet and Leo ran after him with a shout, his little feet flying, legs pumping. She lost sight of him almost immediately in the dense forest and she drew a quick breath, ready to call him back. What if—

Gabriel laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, the heat of him searing her through her shirt. “He’ll be fine. We checked. There’s no one around. Let him run a little, Shea. He needs it.”

He was right. She knew he was right, but for the past year, they hadn’t been able to go anywhere without looking over their shoulders.