Hexed (The Gwen Sparks Series Book 4) (16 page)

Once in the bathroom, I took care of business, and then brushed my teeth and splashed water over my face. Staring at my reflection, I studied my face in hopes of recognizing it. My blue eyes were bright, my dark hair a fizzy mess of tangles. Frowning, I combed my fingers through the strands in the hopes of taming it a little. Giving up, I put it up in a messy ponytail, oddly okay with looking less than sexy in front of Dorian.

Exiting the bathroom, I made my way down the hall to the kitchen. Ethan stood in front of the stove, flipping pieces of bacon in one pan while cooking pancakes in another. I inhaled deeply, my mouth watering. I frowned when I realized that the food was probably intended for Fiona and not me. Making my way over to the coffeepot, I poured a cup and added lots of sugar and creamer.

“Morning,” I said to Ethan, noting the time on the microwave: 7:12A.M.
Why the hell am I up this early?

“Morning,” Ethan said, his eyes giving me an up down before returning toward the stove. I stared down at my clothes and shrugged. He was probably used to Fiona wearing lacy or matching pajamas. Good thing I wasn’t trying to impress him.

“Want some food?” Ethan asked as I sat at the table.

“Really?” I asked, bewildered by his kindness. I was sure he didn’t like me. Dorian padded down the hall, wearing only his pajama pants moments later. My eyes savored his sculpted chest and rippling stomach. He and Ethan exchanged a look, Ethan’s facial features tightening. Add Dorian to the list of people he didn’t like. At least the feelings were mutual. Other than Fiona, I wasn’t sure he liked anyone.

“Yeah, I made too much,” Ethan said in explanation.

Dorian sat beside me, staring into his cup of coffee. He rested his elbows on the table, fingers laced with each other. Taking a sip of my too-hot coffee, I tried to ignore the thickening tension in the kitchen. Having these two men in the same room was almost scary. I kept waiting for a fight to break out and Dorian to take it a step too far. Would he kill him?

Ethan turned with two plates and eyed Dorian and me. His eyes focused on my face. “After everyone is done eating and ready for the day we should talk about last night’s discussion.” Then he headed down the hall and disappeared into Fiona’s room. Bringing Fiona breakfast in bed kicked him up a notch in my mind, if only a little.

“What discussion?” Dorian asked, his voice harder than the muscles distracting me. Standing, I headed toward the left over bacon. If anything could distract me further, it was bacon. Dorian wasn’t going to like the story Ethan had told me; it had ended in death. And, while he assured me it wasn’t the same thing, I knew the spirit walkers he hired to extract souls should also be extracting mine. Dorian’s feelings for me clouded his judgment. He was too close to the situation, too close to me, to do what was right.

When I spun around, I almost smacked into Dorian’s chest. He braced his arms on the counter, caging me in.

“What’s going on, cupcake?”

I chewed the bacon, choosing to stare at his chest rather than into his smoky eyes. I shrieked when Dorian lifted me up and sat me on the counter. His fingers skimmed along my legs as he pressed himself between my thighs.

“We’re a team, right?” He spoke softly, infusing the air between us with a different type of tension. Finally, I looked up and met his gaze. He had his head tilted to the side. The tightness of his mouth accentuated the slope of his jaw. His fingers gripped my hips tightly, but not painfully. He held onto me as though afraid I’d disappear before his eyes.

“Are we?” I asked, remembering how it had seemed like he was hiding something from me last night.

His head jerked backwards as though taken aback by my question. “Of course we are, Gwen. Why would you even doubt that? I’m the only one searching for a solution that doesn’t result in your death.”

I placed a hand against his chest and looked up at him through my lashes. “Aren’t I already dead, though?” When he began to speak, I slipped a finger over his mouth to hush his protests. “What you did wasn’t right, Dorian. It’s…I’m screwing up the balance and causing weird things in Flora. I don’t want to put people’s lives in danger.” I had spent a good portion of last night thinking about the story Ethan told me, wondering if I had the guts to surrender my life for the greater good. I still didn’t know. It was a little difficult contemplating the end of my life, never seeing Fiona or Dorian again. But could I live knowing others were affected by my existence?

Dorian reached up and tugged my hand away from his mouth. “Please don’t speak like that. This life, my existence…you need to live. I will find a way to fix this. You just need to have as much faith in me as I do you. Can you do that?”

“But—”

Dorian mimicked my technique and shushed me with a finger. “No buts, I
will
find a way to fix what I’ve done. I’m not losing you for anything.”

You had to admire his dedication, among other things. His hands fell down to cup my behind. Pulling, he brought me to the edge of the counter and leaned in so that our mouths were mere inches apart.

“Now, what story did Ethan tell you?” His breath fanned across my lips, surprisingly minty rather than morning-breath-gross. That was a plus. With reluctance, I told him everything Ethan had told us last night and watched his facial features for anger. After I was done, his eyelids slipped closed on a long blink.

“Did he happen to mention what the NAWC’s plans were? Are they coming to Flora?”

I shook my head. “He didn’t say,” I told him. “Now it’s your turn. You learned something last night, didn’t you?” My eyes fell over his shoulder to my forgotten cup of coffee. Dorian glanced over his shoulder, and chuckling, retrieved it for me.

“You know, I could just get down and sit back at the table like a normal person.”

“You could,” Dorian agreed, “but I like seeing you on the counter with your legs spread.” His sensual mouth curled up in a smirk. My mug was halfway to my mouth, my hand stilling at his words before I shook myself out of it and swallowed a gulp of luke-warm coffee.

“Stop trying to distract me,” I warned. “I told you my news; now it’s your turn. We’re a team, remember?”

Dorian bobbed his head. “Just do me a favor,” he said. “Let’s keep this information between you and me, okay? I know Fiona’s your best friend, but I trust Ethan about as much as a demon.”

I don’t know why, but hearing demons existed surprised me. After everything, it was a miracle anything could surprise me. “Okay,” I agreed. While Ethan had been civil last night and this morning, there was still something about him that put me on edge.

I reached for another piece of bacon, taking a bite and savoring the saltiness. Holding it out to Dorian, I laughed when his mouth opened and he ate the entire piece from my hand. Grabbing another slice, I half turned to keep him from stealing it from me. If there were ever a reason to murder someone, it would be for the theft of bacon. Bacon paired with coffee was what I liked to refer to as Morning Crack.

“I visited Ms. Willow yesterday,” Dorian started, keeping his voice low. A sheen of bacon grease coated his upper lip, tempting me. “She finally gave me a name.”

That was enough to shake me out of my lusty thoughts. “She confessed to who hired her?”

“She gave me a name,” Dorian said. “As to whether it’s who hired her—” He shrugged. “It’s more likely the person is using this name as an alias.”

“Why? What’s the name?”

“Hecate.”

I pursed my lips in thought. “Sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“In Greek mythology, Hecate is referred to as the goddess of spirits and night apparitions. She personified an aspect of the moon and is said to be the mother of witchcraft. Oftentimes, witches reference her name in their chants. You may have heard Fiona say something like ‘thank the
goddess’
” He waited for me to acknowledge this. “Hecate is the goddess she’s referring to. All witches hold her in high regard, thanking her for positivity in their lives and praying to her when in need of guidance.”

I thought about the woman in my mirror, wondering if just maybe it had been her—Hecate. But Dorian didn’t believe the real Hecate was behind any of this.

“So, because she’s a goddess, you don’t believe it’s actually her who hired Ms. Willow?” I asked, voicing my thoughts.

“Seems unlikely,” Dorian said, “but, I suppose anything is possible.”

My vision blurred as I retreated to my thoughts. Things were getting pretty serious if Hecate was actually taking the time to bother with me. A mythological goddess. I wasn’t sure if I should feel flattered or scared shitless by that. It also reminded me of the significance of the situation. The woman in the mirror explained that by taking my memories dying would be easier. Maybe she assumed that I wouldn’t connect to the people in my life this quickly and therefore it would be easier to surrender my life. However, I had connected with Fiona and Dorian. I liked what was between Dorian and me, loved figuring out who he was and learning about myself through his eyes. Though there’d been no declaration of love, I could feel how much he cared for me through his relentless actions to try to save me.

“What are you thinking about?”

I blinked out of my thoughts, refocusing on the present and looking up at Dorian’s handsome face. And he was breathtakingly handsome in an eerie way. Those eyes, the churning gray clouds rolling across his sockets, could suck you in and make you feel like you were floating through an abyss of endlessness. The curve of his mouth was another one of his seductive tools, wielding it and causing me to surrender to him effortlessly.

“Tell me how we met,” I heard myself saying as I stared up at him.

His mouth curled up on one side. “It was a dark and stormy night…” At my look of incredulity, he added, “It was. We were between Seattle and Moon and a thunderstorm had rolled in. You had jumped out of your cab after seeing a bad car accident. The police hadn’t shown up yet, and you worried about the passengers. After checking on them, you saw me approaching.” Dorian’s grin turned into a small smile while he recollected that night. “I still remember your face after seeing me approach.” A huff of amusement fell from his nose. “And I still remember how I felt when I first saw you.” Dorian leaned toward me, bringing his mouth toward my neck. He placed a small kiss below my ear before continuing to speak.

“I was momentarily stunned by you,” he said. “The rain soaked you from head to toe, capturing on your skin and your blue eyes blazed through the darkness as you tried to make sense of me. I knew who you were, sensed your power, but your beauty and bravery took me by surprise.” My eyelids grew heavy with each brush of his lips, relishing the soft caress of his breath as he spoke. “From that moment on, I knew I wanted to possess you.” He brought his face in front of mine while his hand crawled up my arm and settled on the back of my neck.

“And no one is going to take you away from me,” he promised. We stared into each other’s eyes, Dorian’s expression intense while I tried to keep my breathing even.

“Oh!” Fiona said from behind Dorian’s back. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

With one last look, Dorian helped me off the counter, and we turned toward my best friend. Her timing sucked.

“IF YOU EVEN bring up killing Gwen…” Dorian warned. The four of us made our way into the living room to
discuss
things. As I gauged the hatred between Ethan and Dorian, I wasn’t sure there would be much of a discussion. I had a feeling I’d have to play referee.

“What? You’ll kill me?” Ethan’s tone implied he didn’t fear taunting Dorian. “You haven’t learned your lesson yet?”

Dorian’s right eye crinkled while his lips thinned. I gripped his arm, my fingers squeezing their own warning. Dorian spared me a look, his body relaxing just enough that I’m comforted that a fight won’t break out in the middle of my living room.

“You should be so lucky,” Dorian said. “What I had planned was far worse than death.”

An involuntary shiver made its way up my spine at his menacing tone. It’s in times like these that I wondered how I fell for someone as dangerous as Dorian. He’s nice to me, but that didn’t mean the monster hiding within wouldn’t rear its ugly head. My instincts told me that, while I had reservations towards Dorian’s shift in moods, there was no doubt that he wouldn’t hurt me.

“I think it’s best that you guys ignore your hatred for each other and we discuss what we’re going to do,” I said, eyeing the three other people in the room. Fiona and Ethan sat on the sofa while I sat in the overstuffed chair and Dorian stood with crossed arms beside me, his feet spread shoulder width apart—his threatening posture.

After a few more tense moments of silence, Ethan recited the story about the witch. Dorian stood beside me, never shifting or giving away any emotion. I kept peeking up at him to see if his thoughts would reveal themselves through his expression, but he remained stony. It wasn’t until Ethan got to the part about the archer shooting the witch that his jaw ticked.

“What are the NAWC’s plans?” Dorian asked after Ethan finished.

Ethan shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell me.”