Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted) (48 page)

All her fear, all her pain, all the emotions she’d bottled up inside threatened to sink her into a dark place. Instead, she kissed the living daylight out of him and held tight to the fact that he kissed her just as ruthlessly.

When he released her, his eyes remained closed, and his chest heaved like he’d just run a marathon. She liked knowing she had that power over him.

When he opened his eyes to stare into hers, she knew what he was going to say before he spoke.

“When I come back, we’ll finish that.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. He didn’t move right away, staring into her eyes for a few brief seconds before brushing past her. But he didn’t go for the door.

She watched as he squatted down beside Leo and looked him dead in the eyes.

“While I’m gone, you listen to Shea. But you’re a
grigorio
, Leo, and we don’t scare easily. We fight and we win. The women need you to be strong for them, just like they’re going to protect you however they can.”

Then Gabriel leaned close and whispered in Leo’s ear. And when Gabriel pulled back and his mouth quirked into a full-blown smile, Leo’s face split in a weak grin.

“No problem.” Leo held out his hand, and Gabriel shook it.

Gabriel nodded one more time then stood. “Quinn, let’s move.”

Quinn pulled his gaze away from Serena and shook his head like a man coming out of a daze. Moving to stand next to Gabriel, he nodded to Shea and mustered a smile for Leo.

“See you in a few.” Then he turned to Gabriel and his smile seemed almost normal. “Let us hunt some Orc.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes as they turned to leave. “You watch too many damn movies, you know that?”

Quinn grabbed at his chest, mimicking a heart attack. “Holy hell, did you actually see ‘Lord of the Rings?’ I thought you were above frivolous things like movies.”

Shea couldn’t hear anything more as they passed through the rock.

Leaving her alone with a six-year-old and an injured
strega
.

“Don’t worry, Shea.” Leo tugged on her hand, drawing her toward the small light next to Serena. “It’ll be okay.”

* * *

Gabriel and Quinn doubled back to the house, but the intruders hadn’t reached it yet. They were making progress up the hill, though.

Gabriel kneeled and dug his hands into the soil. Closing his eyes, he released his senses into the dirt, let them blend with the energy in the earth and extend outward.

He sensed the animals in the forest and the living trees in the ground. Beyond that, he felt the definite signature of men. He honed in on their location. It took several seconds, but he finally got a bead on them.

They’d passed through the confusion spells ringing the outer reaches of the property, which meant they had a pretty damn powerful stregone with them. Or they were just damn lucky.

Gabriel didn’t believe in that kind of luck.

He tried to focus on the one with the most power, but they were shielding. They knew what they were up against, and they’d come prepared. Well, he’d make sure they weren’t prepared enough.

Beside him, Quinn drew out his wolf in silence.

It didn’t take them long to find the men. Three of them, keeping to the shadows. Two had strong glamours. The other one held a Ruger, which should be no problem. Automatic weapons usually couldn’t shoot iron bullets with any accuracy. And iron was the only metal the
grigori
had no defenses against.

Gabriel motioned for Quinn to get behind the trio. Between the two of them, these three clowns didn’t stand a chance. He recognized one of the men from the strip club. The other two were new. That meant there were probably more of them somewhere, maybe down at the car. Still, not bad odds. Finish these three then deal with the others before they realized these were gone.

He never considered defeat. He’d do whatever it took to make sure his mother’s sanctuary wasn’t breached.

Because they knew each other so well, Quinn knew exactly what Gabriel wanted him to do. He attacked first from the rear, grabbing one man’s leg and disorienting them so Gabriel could come at them from the front when they turned to see what was biting them in the ass.

The fight was short and vicious and the invaders barely had time to defend themselves before Gabriel had slashed the throats of two and Quinn had torn out the throat of the other.

“Too easy,” he muttered. “Too fucking easy.”

Quinn growled low in his throat and shook his head, fur bristling at his nape.

“Decoys. Sonovabitch, they were decoys.”

The words were no sooner out of Gabriel’s mouth than Quinn shot off in the direction of the house, Gabriel close on his heels. They didn’t pass a soul, which meant there were no more…or whoever was in front of them was more powerful than he was.

The teen from the other day. It had to be him. Gabriel muttered a seeking spell as he ran, fitting an image of the boy into it. And damn if he didn’t find him. Close to the house. Not there yet and heading away at the moment.

Gabriel slowed and Quinn, attuned to his every move, dropped back to his side. He could see blood lust in Quinn’s eyes. He felt the same way, but they needed a plan before they could take this kid out.

Adrenaline pumping, Gabriel forced himself to stop and motioned for Quinn to do the same. He had to think, had to get around this kid, who probably already knew they were looking for him. Surprise wasn’t an option.

Gabriel bared his teeth at Quinn, who returned the grin. They’d give the guy what he was expecting. And let him screw up.

* * *

Serena woke minutes after the men left.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and gasped. “Gabriel! What’s going on?”

“Serena.” Shea hurried to her side as Leo flicked on the lantern. “We’re okay. Quinn found someone at the bottom of the hill. He and Gabriel went to check it out.”

It took the other woman a few seconds to register the information, pain still blurring her eyes. Then her lids descended and she raised a hand to rub at her temples.

“I should have known.” She shifted her legs over the edge of the rough bed, her green dress shimmering in the lamplight. “How could I not have known? I’ve got to get out there—”

Shea clamped a hand on Serena’s arm. “You have to stay right here. Gabriel left specific instructions. You go nowhere.”

Serena shot her a look designed to make her cower in fear. “Do not presume to tell me—”

“If you go out there, you could get them killed. I won’t let you do that.”

Her eyes widening, Serena looked ready to blast her and Shea hoped Leo wasn’t listening too closely. But then the other woman took a deep breath, as if she’d read her mind. Maybe she had.

“When did they leave?” Serena asked.

“I think about twenty minutes ago.”

“Where’s Leo?”

“Here,” he called from the other side of the room.

Serena smiled in Leo’s general direction, but when she looked at Shea, her expression turned serious and she spoke barely above a whisper. “I need to see what’s going on. Don’t worry,” Serena added when Shea opened her mouth to protest. “I can do it from here. I just need some water and a bowl. Leo, come here, dear.”

She didn’t raise her voice much above a whisper, but Leo padded over with the lantern.

“I’m going to turn off the light and, when our eyes are accustomed to the dark again, I’m going to show you a pretty cool trick, okay?”

Leo nodded and didn’t even flinch when Serena plunged the cave into darkness again. It didn’t take long to regain their night vision, helped along by a faint glow from above, probably an opening to the outside. Serena led them deeper into the cave, to what appeared to be a storeroom. Bottled water, packaged food and a few boxes of herbs and magical supplies. From one of the boxes, Serena withdrew a jug of water and a large bowl lined with abalone.

“Have you ever seen a magic mirror, Leo?”

Leo’s teeth flashed in the dark. “My mom showed me hers once. She said she was checking on Shea.”

Shea gasped. Her mother had kept tabs on her.

“Your mom was much better at using hers than I am, but I think I can make this work.”

Pushing thoughts of her mom to the back of her brain, Shea watched Serena pour the liquid into the bowl and set the bowl on the floor. Then Serena knelt, holding her hands over the bowl as she intoned, “Blessed Goddess, I entreat thee to show us those who would harm an innocent.”

At first, the water showed nothing but the darkness of the cave. Then slowly, shapes began to coalesce. Or rather, one shape, someone climbing the hill toward the house. Then the water clouded again and another shape formed in the glassy surface. This one was practically at the cave and headed straight for them. Shea recognized him as the teenager from the rest stop.

Shea heard Serena draw in a shaky breath.

Spinning on her heel, Shea headed for the stockroom again. She’d seen exactly what she needed there. When she returned, Serena stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed over her chest.

“What are you planning?”

Shea buckled the pugio’s sheath around her waist and positioned it on her hip. She liked the feel of the small blade in her hand, better for close fighting. “Take him out before he gets me.” She strapped a matching weapon on her left upper arm. “If it’s a physical fight, I should win. I’m hoping I can surprise him enough to get the upper hand and incapacitate him.”

“And if you can’t?”

Shea felt her lips curl back in a snarl. “Then I’ll kill him.”

She went to move past Serena, but the other woman stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you sure you can do that? Teens have a lot of raw power and earlier tonight…”

She didn’t have to finish. Shea knew what she meant. But Shea knew something about herself.

“My father trained me, just as he would any
grigorio
. I can take him. I know I can. Don’t let anything happen to Leo.”