Indigo Spell (13 page)

“It is true. They have gained power as evidenced by the hurricane.”

The hurricane?
“What are you saying?” Though his voice was whisper-quiet, no one could miss the underlying steel.

Falcon didn’t look away from Jaxon’s glower. “Did you really think the hurricane’s rapid approach was without assistance?”

Jaxon hadn’t considered it. His only thought had been protecting Tess. His jaw tightened. “Why would they try to kill her? They don’t even know her.”

Andion snorted, a most undignified act for such a pompous wizard. “Perhaps you would be wise to focus on the situation at hand, Jaxon. The witches cared not about your girlfriend. They wanted to flaunt their renewed strength.”

Before Jaxon could spin around to direct his wrath at the older wizard, Falcon raised his hand and continued, “As well you know, their last attempt to gain supremacy was a difficult battle. This one will be the ultimate test of our power. We must focus, combine our strength for the war ahead. Your involvement with this…Tess,” Falcon caught himself, “will only make things more difficult for you.”

Jaxon sifted through the truth of what the leader said. He hadn’t forgotten the last battle with the Coven. Five powerful witches with more knowledge and power than any other witch they’d ever encountered had challenged the Assembly to a majestic duel of sorts. And while the Assembly had managed to overthrow the witches, the casualties had been vast. Human lives had been lost as the witches didn’t hesitate to use every means at their disposal in their attempt to oust the wizards from power.

“I understand, but Tess has already been exposed.” He pinned a look at Andion’s pinched face. “And I will not change what she has learned.”

“You want her to know about you, about us. How completely selfish of you.” The aged wizard pounced to his feet, his shoulders thrust forward in an intimidating stance. “Did you not think of anyone but yourself when you saved this woman? Or were you allowing the sexual pleasure you found in this woman’s arms to outweigh your duty to your people?”

The mental counting didn’t help. Jaxon took a step closer, his eyes blazing. “What is between Tess and me is not your concern.”

“I beg to differ since I am one of the Assembly. You have challenged my right to retain my privacy. Some of us,” Andion sniffed, “choose not to live among the mortals. You have a duty to protect those of us who desire our secrecy.”

“Tess only knows of me. She knows nothing of the rest of you.”

“And you believe she won’t ask more questions, want more information?” Andion’s voice thickened with sarcasm. “You are quite the fool, young Jaxon.”

Fire sizzled from the points of Jaxon’s fingertips. “Do not make the mistake of assuming I am still a child, Andion. You might not like what you reap for such an assumption.”

“You would dare challenge a wizard with more years on this earth than you, someone with more power than you could ever hope to attain in a lifetime?” Andion’s eyes glazed, his hands clenched into fists. “And you attempt to scare me with the paltry fireworks a mortal magician could accomplish? You have not yet seen true power.” The white-haired wizard whirled and chopped the air with a sweep of his hand. Blue flames sizzled and spiked, shaping themselves as daggers and, with another wave of his hand, they sped toward Jaxon, aimed at his chest.

Jaxon didn’t flinch as the flames bounced off an invisible protective wall that now surrounded him. He merely arched an eyebrow and inquired in a polite tone of voice. “If that is all you have, I have no need to worry.”

Fury sparked from Andion’s eyes and his arms began to circle, creating twin maelstroms that sucked the oxygen from the room and rippled the air with dark, violent rage.

“Andion, stop this at once!” Jensen leaped to his feet, rounding the table to stand beside his son. “You will not challenge my son! I forbid it! And what you discuss is of no importance now. We have to work together if we are to subdue the Coven once more.”

“Jensen is right.” Falcon inserted himself between Jaxon and Andion. “Andion, take your seat. Jaxon, sit. The night grows shorter and we have to discuss our next step.”

Instincts putting him on the alert, Jaxon’s head lifted. “I cannot. Tess is awake. I must go to her. I will return once—” he broke off. “I shall return.”

* * * * *

Tess sat on the edge of the bed, testing the strength of her legs when Jaxon entered the bedroom once more. “Where am I?” she asked the question politely as if preparing to discuss the weather. She tugged the comforter over her legs, shielding her body from his view.

Jaxon gave a sigh and handed her a silk burgundy robe. “In my home.”

“But not your home in South Carolina. I would appreciate more specifics, please.”

He rubbed his upper lip with his index finger and tilted his head to one side, observing her wobbly effort to stand. “Do you need some help?”

With some maneuvering, she managed to slide her arms into the sleeves of the robe and belt the sash around her waist while remaining seated. “What I need are answers. That’s all you can give me right now.”

“We are in the Himalayan Mountains.”

“Himalayan Mountains.” She finally pushed herself to her feet. “I might have known. It couldn’t have been someplace simple like Kansas or Arizona. No, it would have to be the Himalayan Mountains because that makes things even more difficult. How am I supposed to get a flight out of here?”

Jaxon watched her erect the wall, a defense mechanism. He resisted the urge to go to her, to pull her into his arms, to comfort her. He doubted she would appreciate the effort. She had a desire to hate him and he had no choice but to allow it. “You aren’t ready to leave yet, Tess.”

“I was scared. Not hurt.” Her arms folded over her chest, protective, defensive.

“And you’re still scared.”

A spark flashed in her eyes. Jaxon recognized the battle signal. Okay, so he’d been a little wrong. She didn’t just want to hate him right now. She wanted to hurt him. “I’m sure you can’t be surprised by that.” The words shot out like tiny daggers.

Jaxon took a few steps toward her, stopped to survey her warning posture and took two more steps, which put him at her side. He wrapped his arm around her waist, ignored the stiffening of her spine and guided her toward the window. “Look out here. What do you see?”

“I see mountains and I’m not interested in a history lesson.” She held up one hand and visibly collected herself. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. I haven’t thanked you for saving my life.”

“There’s no need.”

“You risked a lot to save me.”

“The risk was minimal.” He deflected her gratitude.

“Well, regardless, thank you. And I hope this doesn’t sound ungrateful but I would like to know when I can get out of here.”

He brushed her hair with his palm. “We have to talk first.”

“Actually I’ve decided we don’t. In fact you can keep all your secrets to yourself. I’m not interested. Not at all. It’s better this way. I can go about my life and you can do whatever it is you do when I’m not around. I presume when you left me, you were with the other wizards.” Tess stopped, angled her body so she could get a better look at his face. “One can only assume there are more of you. I can’t imagine you would be the only one remaining.”

He hated that Andion was right. He had known this would come but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. Tess deserved the truth but it wasn’t going to do her any favors. “There are more like me, yes.”

“How many more?”

“I haven’t counted.”

She pulled away from him. “These mountains, they’re where you go to hide when you can’t deal with the outside world, right?”

“This is my home.” The words were simply stated. Jaxon didn’t defend who he was. There was no need.

“And what about South Carolina. What is that?”

“I live in two different worlds, Tess. That is my choice. I cannot change who I am. I can only change how I live.”

“You mean you’ve chosen to live like I do, as a human?”

“Yes.”

“And you can choose not to?”

“Yes.”

“Could you elaborate?”

Jaxon smiled. She was irritated. He liked that better than fear. “I have chosen to live my life as you do simply because I like the way you live in your world. There is a sense of freedom I do not have otherwise. Would you like to sit down?”

“No, I don’t want to get comfortable. I just want the truth.” She fidgeted with her hands. “You kissed me like a man.” Her head tilted. “You did everything like a man.”

“I am a man.” He watched a combination of confusion and suspicion skate across her face.

“No, you’re not. You’re a wizard.”

“Okay, fine. I’m a male wizard with all the desires and needs of a man.”

She turned her back on him, directing her gaze out the window, but Jaxon didn’t need to see her face to know indecision warred within her. A part of her wanted to run, to escape what she didn’t understand but the other part, the part he hoped was the strongest, was interested, intrigued even. “I have to let Belinda know where I am. Of course, she’ll never understand how I could be in the Himalayan Mountains so soon. I mean you can’t get to Asia by plane in twelve hours. That’s how long it’s been since we saw each other, Belinda and I. She would never understand. But I have to call her.” She stopped, looked over her shoulder. “Do you even have phones up here?”

“You can call your friend but what you can tell her will be limited.” He had moved to stand behind her and his hands now fell to her shoulders, massaging gently to ease the tension.

“You don’t need to tell me that. I’m not about to get on the phone with my friend and tell her I’ve met a real-life wizard. She’ll think I’ve finally gone over the edge.”

“And we couldn’t have that now, could we?” He nuzzled her neck with his lips. He loved her scent, the taste of her skin. She was more intoxicating than his first magic spell, more powerful than his most recent. And she was scared. He didn’t like that he had frightened her, that knowledge of his world had frightened her. “I know you have a lot more questions and I will answer those I can.”

“Which means you’re going to continue to keep things from me. You know, I don’t think we can have any type of relationship. You have too many secrets, secrets which shouldn’t be told to anyone, least of all a human.” Tess turned, her body brushing his. “Are you in trouble?”

He lifted one eyebrow. “In trouble?”

“With your group, the other wizards, for telling me?”

“They weren’t happy.”

“What did they do to you?”

He brushed at her hair. “Nothing. They did nothing.”

She lifted her hand and captured his. “I knew there was something different about you.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“I felt like repeating it.” She ducked her head and rested her forehead against his chest. “So, is it like against the rules for me to be here with you like this?”

“I have no rules. How I choose to live my life is my own business.”

“Hmm, I doubt the other wizards think that way.”

Jaxon chuckled, dropping his chin to the top of her head. “You have a lot of wisdom, Ms. Montgomery.”