Charmed in Vegas: Bad Potions (12 page)

“It’s warded. I don’t know how you were able to call me. I don’t think anything gets in or out unless Eric wants it to. You were lucky with the phone.”

Raven gave a harsh laugh. “I bet it wasn’t luck.”

“You mean...” Marion trailed off as the truth struck her.

“Eric used me to flush you out is what I think.” Raven smacked the window with both hands, hissing in pain as she did so. The wards held and the window remained intact. Raven growled in frustration. “I’m not going down without a fight.”

“What are we going to do? I don’t know any defensive magic and you’re an herbalist.” Tears gathered in her eyes again.

Raven shook her head. “There’s no magic that protects a man from a knee to the groin.” She came to stand next to Marion and put her arm around her. “You can’t give up, Mar. Aidan will be looking for us, right?”

Marion nodded.

“We just have to give them as much time as possible to find us. If it has to be a knock-down, drag-out fight, so be it, but Eric won’t find us willing. Right?”

“Right.” Marion nodded and threw back her shoulders, trying to feel brave.

“Good. Now, come on, we’ve got weapons to make.”

“Weapons? From what?”

“Hangers.” Raven went to the closet and began throwing wire hangers on the bed. At Marion’s doubtful expression, she said, “Just trust me. I’ve been staring at them for a while now, and I’ve got an idea.”

Marion raised an eyebrow, but went to assist Raven. Without any magic, beggars couldn’t be choosers and if all they had to fight with were bits of wire—well, it was better than nothing.

E
ric the mage was a dead man. Aidan would see to that personally if it was the last thing he did. Marion's ex had tricked them for the last time. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it coming, hadn't sensed the magic somehow. He'd failed Marion and if he didn't make things right, she would die.

Swearing under his breath, he smacked the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. The second they'd realized what had happened, they'd gone back to the university parking lot and  zig-zagged in a grid from street to street, looking for a clue. But they'd been driving for over an hour now and there was no sign of Marion. It was as if she’d never existed.

"Come on. There's got to be something we're missing." Aidan hit the brakes at a stop sign and then floored the accelerator through the intersection.

Beside him, Dougal sighed. “I don’t know what else we can do, Aidan. It’s beyond our abilities.”

Aidan gave a curt nod of agreement. “You're right, but I think I have an idea. Something Eric can't hide from.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Call in reinforcements. If Eric wants an obsession, I’ll give him one.”

***

S
erena smiled as she opened the door to her hotel suite, which was large as a house and decorated in a mix of marble, silver and turquoise. Catching sight of Dougal her smile widened. “Hello, boys. You called?”

“Thanks for seeing us, Serena,” Aidan said. She looked the same as when they’d met. Lush with round curves and not a day over sixteen, even if she was pushing a hundred.

“Who’s big, tall, and hulking over here? “ She brushed past Aidan and sashayed over to where Dougal stood.

“My friend, Dougal.”

She stood on tip-toe as she cupped the big man's cheek in her hand. “Hello, Dougal.”

Dougal moved his mouth in an attempt to talk, but nothing came out except gibberish. He flushed and tried again with the same result.

Serena laughed, a melodic scale of sound that raised goose bumps on Aidan’s skin. “Don’t worry. There’s no need for words between us.”

“Stop it, Serena,” Aidan said, his voice a warning rumble. “Save your energy for my favor.”

She removed her hand from Dougal’s cheek and looked at Aidan, blue eyes wide and innocent. “I can’t help my natural charms, you know.”

“Yes, you can. Come on, we know each other too well for this.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment, then gave a curt nod. “Very well.”

Instantly the temperature in the room cooled and Dougal shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “What the hell just happened?” he asked.

“Serena’s a siren. We grew up together.” Aidan knew Dougal hadn't grown up around water. He'd probably never seen a siren before, which explained why he was so susceptible to her allure.

“You have some interesting and dangerous friends.”

Aidan smiled. “So far, it’s worked to my advantage.”

“I like that about you, Aidan. Always on the edge. Are there any more women like Serena in your past and how soon can they get here?” Dougal looked the siren over with open interest as he spoke and gave her his version of a flirty smile. With his wide mouth and broad features, the gesture quickly turned into a leer.

Aidan elbowed his friend in the ribs. "Dial it back, big man."

Serena covered her laugh with a cough and said, “Well, here I am, Aidan. So talk. What do you want from me? I assume this is not a blind date no matter how...virile your friend’s interest.”

“No. This is all business,” he assured her. “There’s an evil mage who’s kidnapped my friends. We need to find the mage and dump him in the wastelands of Fairy before he kills them.”

“You want me to sing, right?”

Aidan nodded and picked up the megaphone he’d purchased on the way back to the hotel. “His name is Eric.”

“Eric. A Viking name.” She thought for a moment, manicured finger tapping her bottom lip. “I can work with that.”

“Good. We’ll drive, you sing.” He gave her the megaphone and then fished in his pockets for the earplugs he’d bought along with the megaphone. Handing a pair to Dougal, he said, “Put these in your ears. We can’t afford to get distracted.”

Dougal took the earplugs and did as Aidan requested while Serena sang scales to warm up her voice. Even with the impact of her voice muffled, it still sounded like the best music Aidan had ever heard. He closed his eyes, recalling the summer they had spent together before the queen called him to her service.

Serena had hit a few new notes at his touch, but the relationship would’ve never worked in the long run. The glazed look of lust in Dougal’s eyes explained why. Men flocked to Serena like ants to sugar, providing too much temptation for monogamy. Sirens were notoriously fickle, and went wherever their passions took them. For three blissful months she had been interested in him. If the Queen hadn’t recruited him, Aidan was sure it would’ve ended badly.

Aidan pushed the earplugs in deeper and thought of Marion. The way she writhed underneath him, the soft gasp she made just before she came, and the velvet stroke of her mouth on his cock. Just thinking of her made him hard. While Serena might be the stuff of fantasy, Aidan realized he much preferred Marion and her down-to-earth personality. There were no games with her.

A lump clogged his throat at the thought that something might happen to her, that Eric might finish what he started. Over his dead body, he vowed. He would move heaven and earth and Fairy itself to keep Marion safe.

They left the casino and drove through the city, windows down and Serena singing through the megaphone. Dougal had a map and plotted out a route that followed the grid of side streets in a logical fashion. Two hours in and they’d collected a string of the wrong 'Erics’. Dozens of men of all shapes and sizes answered Serena’s sighs of ‘Eric,’ but none of them were the one they needed to find. Aidan began to worry he might never see Marion again.

M
arion swished the warped hangers in the air and looked doubtfully at Raven. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“It’s all we’ve got.” Raven slipped a hanger over her neck and gave it an experimental yank. “When he walks in, you wait on the bed with the stick we made and I’ll jump him from behind and slip this over his neck like a noose. If we move fast, we’ll knock him out before he can do any magic.”

“Sounds like a plan.” An odd plan, but like Raven said, it was all they had. Marion picked up the ‘stick’ they had made by unraveling several hangers and then twisting them together until their hands were raw with the effort. The ends were sharp enough to draw blood—not the worst handmade weapon and better than nothing.

“Okay. Let’s get in position.” Raven went to close the closet door and then stood against the wall beside the entrance to their small room. When Eric opened the door she would be on his back before he could react. At least that was the idea, whether it actually worked was another thing all together.

Marion sat on the bed, hiding the stick under her thigh, leaving just enough poking out that she could grab it easily.

They held their positions for several hours and gradually, as more time passed, Raven wilted, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor with a sigh. Marion flopped back on the bed, stretching out her back which ached from sitting so long.

“What if he never comes back?” Raven groaned.

“He’ll come. He’s probably just planning what to do with us.”

“I wish he would get on with it already. This is boring.”

Marion stifled a giggle at her friend’s irritation. “Yeah, captivity isn’t really stimulating, is it?”

A key scraped in the lock. Raven jumped to her feet, a fierce expression on her face, hanger-noose at the ready. Marion resumed her seated position and watched the door expectantly, holding her breath, sweaty palm gripping the hanger-stick.

She saw the knob turn just before Eric threw the door open, striding into the bedroom with a broad smile of confidence on his clean-shaven face. It made Marion’s stomach turn.

Raven lunged at him as soon as he passed her. The hanger slipped over his head and she jerked it back, using it like a garrote to cut off his air supply. For a second it looked like she had the upper hand, but then Eric reached back to touch Raven’s head. A blue charge zapped through her, and she fell, limp and unmoving to the ground.

Marion jumped to her feet with a roar. "Don't you dare hurt her.” She clubbed Eric on the shoulder and then thrust the stick hard into his gut.

He extended his hand toward her, blue energy crackling from his finger tips, but she whacked him so hard across the wrist, he dropped his arm before he could touch her. He wouldn't win. Not this time. No way.

Over and over, she struck him. He grunted with each blow and tried to fight back, but rage made Marion fast. Every time he tried to gather his magic, she hit him and then hit him again. He couldn’t concentrate enough to mount an offense. Within minutes he lay unconscious on the floor, blood dripping from a wound on his temple.

Marion stood over him, panting and feeling stronger than she ever had before. “You will not hurt me. You will not hurt anyone ever again,” she shouted at him, her voice cracking.

“Mar?” Raven’s voice was faint.

She rushed to her friend’s side and helped her sit up. “Are you okay?”

“My head is killing me. What happened? I think I passed out.” Raven looked around the room, spotting Eric. “Oh wow. We got him!"

Marion brandished the hanger stick. “Hangers. Who knew?”

“I know, right?” Raven said.

Confident that Raven was okay for the moment. Marion went and yanked Eric’s dress shirt off and used it to secure his hands behind his back “Now what?” Marion asked as she tied his legs together with his belt.

“We get the hell out of here.”

Marion shook her head. “No, that won’t work. He’ll just come after me again.”

“We’ll call the police and give them the address.”

“I would rather find Aidan. He and Dougal have a more permanent solution” Marion nudged Eric with her toe, satisfied to see he didn’t stir. She wouldn’t mind if he never woke up again. Or, better yet, maybe he would make a good husband for one of those Eros Fey Dougal had told her about.

“We need to find a phone.” Raven crawled forward and searched Eric’s pockets. “I’d like to get my cell phone back too, if possible.”

When Eric’s pockets came up empty, Marion asked, “ Can you walk?” At Raven’s nod, she said, “I’ll keep an eye on Eric, you check the apartment. He called me, there must be a phone somewhere.”

Raven stood and, once her feet were steady under her, went to look, leaving Marion to stand guard. When Eric stirred, she didn’t hesitate to club him in the head, satisfied to see him drop into unconscious again. Who knew what kind of magic he would unleash if he woke up to find himself hogtied by his prey?

“I found my phone,” Raven said, reentering the room a few minutes later.

“Call Aidan. You’ve got his number right?”

“Yeah, from arranging the dinner.” Raven dialed, but frowned when nothing happened. “Damn. There's no signal. The wards must be blocking calls.”

“Go outside and try there."

“You okay here?’

Marion brandished the hanger-stick with a wicked grin. “I’ll be just fine. Eric won’t be waking up anytime soon.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And then Raven was gone, the front door of the apartment clicking shut behind her. That left Marion alone with Eric, but for once, that didn't scare her.

V
egas had a lot of Erics. More than Aidan had realized and Serena had attracted a horde of them. They staggered after his car, their eyes bright with obsession and fixated on Serena, who hung out the window, her voice coaxing them along. They'd driven up and down the Vegas Strip for hours now, but so far, the one Eric they wanted to find hadn't shown up.

People were starting to notice. They'd pulled enough Erics away from friends and family that Aidan was pretty sure the police would show up any second now. Where the hell was that mage? He clenched the steering wheel in his hands and growled with frustration.

A loud Fairy song rang from Aidan's crotch, a sappy love ballad no less. He shifted as his cell phone danced in the front pocket of his jeans. Driving with one hand, he pulled out the phone, keeping one eye on the siren-crazed Erics trying to swarm the car.

“Hello.”

“Aidan, it’s me, Raven.”

“Are you okay? Where are you? Where’s Marion?”

“We’re okay, but we could use some help dealing with Eric,” Raven said.