Intoxicating Magic (14 page)

“Before you decide anything with Laveaux, could you consider giving me another chance?”

Chapter 13

Tal’s words were what I’d longed to hear for the past three months. But as I stood there watching David’s plane land, trepidation took over. Nervous energy had me shifting from foot to foot. Before long, Link was pacing back and forth, no doubt feeding off my emotions. How was I going to sit in a plane for over four hours with both Tal and David?

I’d rather give a speech in front of a national audience, wearing that horrific giraffe-print dress Phoebe had made me try on that one time than suffer being trapped in a plane with the pair of them.

Before I knew it, David was out of the plane and striding toward me. He didn’t even acknowledge Tal as he engulfed me in his embrace and planted a kiss on my temple. “I was worried,” he said, though his words were gentle.

I stiffened and pushed him back, very uncomfortable with the PDA he was showing in front of Tal. To make matters worse, when he released me, he draped an arm around my shoulders and tucked me into him as if we truly were a couple. As if he were claiming me for Tal’s benefit.

“We were out of range,” I said, shrugging him off. I took two steps away from both of them. Link followed and sat right in front of me. That’s right. He was the only male in my life I’d allow to claim me. I met David’s eyes. “You should’ve waited for me to call you back.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And do what? Wait until I got the call that Asher has you or worse? You know I can’t do that.”

“She was with me,” Tal said, making no effort to mask the irritation in his tone.

David’s eyes narrowed. I knew he was wondering what we’d been doing. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him. Tal’s Void business was confidential. If he wanted Allcot to know, it was up to him to tell him.

They stood there, each sizing the other up.

I rolled my eyes. “Which plane are we going back on?”

The one David had flown in on was identical to the one waiting for me in the next hangar.

“This one.” David gestured to the one already on the tarmac. “As soon as they get it gassed up, we’ll be on our way.” David headed inside the hangar to converse with both pilots.

“Allcot has two Learjets?” Talisen asked.

I shrugged. “Guess so. In fact, I bet he has more than two. Or at least the corporation does.”

David reappeared. “They’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He placed his hand on my elbow and started steering me toward the plane.

Good Goddess, that irritated me, though I was acutely aware that if Talisen hadn’t been there, I’d have been perfectly fine with it. I pulled my arm away under the pretense of having to tie my shoe. I didn’t want him touching me after Talisen’s confession back in the Trooper. It just felt… wrong. Like I was cheating on someone. Though I wasn’t sure who.

I heard Tal let out a chuckle and then there was the click of the back door opening on the Trooper. “Laveaux, we brought your maker a present.”

David stilled and then slowly turned around. “Maker?”

Tal waved at the back of the SUV and then moved to join me. The fact Tal had used “maker” instead of “father” was deliberate. He was calling out the fact that David was vampire. It was a subtle slight on any relationship David and I might have.

David peered into the Trooper. “Who’s this?”

“She’s one of Asher’s people. Tal’s handing her over to Allcot,” I said, my voice flat. Who knew what Allcot would do to her to get answers? It would be ugly, and even though she would’ve surely killed me or handed me over to Asher, I couldn’t stomach her likely fate.

David nodded to one of the flight crew. “Put her on the plane. Do whatever it takes to restrain her. I don’t want any surprises midflight.”

The crewman nodded. “No problem, Mr. Laveaux.”

Once on the plane, Tal sat to my right and David took the seat directly across from me. We were in a cluster of four chairs that faced each other. I stared at Link, wishing I could just sit with him. Because this wasn’t going to be awkward. No, not at all.

Twenty minutes into the flight, I longed for some Mocha in Motion. I was already running on empty, and the metal from the plane was only making it worse. I closed my eyes, my eyelids and limbs heavy. It wasn’t long before I fell into blissful darkness.

I woke to Tal’s healing energy tingling down my spine. It was so familiar and welcome. I let out a small moan of appreciation and leaned into him, not wanting the sensation to end.

“Thanks,” I murmured as I opened my sleepy eyes and caught him smiling down at me.

“Better?”

“Yes.” I needed to fly with Talisen all the time. Dang. He was lucky. Because he was a healer, his resources didn’t get depleted the way mine did. Besides that he was also gifted in stone magic. As long as he had one or two on his person, he had all the energy he needed.

David cleared his throat, startling me. I sat straight up, having totally forgotten in my sleepy haze that he was there.

I glanced between him and Tal. To Tal’s credit, he wasn’t engaging in David’s subtle hostility. He was relaxed, one foot resting on his knee, with Link lying in front of him.

David, on the other hand, was leaning forward, piercing us both with his eyes. “What happened in Eureka?”

I glanced at Tal, letting him take the lead. It was his mission I’d interrupted, after all.

Tal met David’s gaze, unblinking, and said, “I’ll discuss that with Allcot.”

Oh, whoa. David was going to hate that.

David kept his expression blank, but by the stiffness in his frame, I knew he was fuming. And even though Tal had perked me up with his magic, I was still worn out from the tension in the plane by the time we landed. All I wanted to do was go home and rest in my enchanted oak and shut out the rest of the world.

But Harrison was in trouble and no way was I going anywhere until I was sure he was okay.

“Let’s go,” David barked and led the way to his silver Mercedes.

Tal and I glanced at each other. He smiled at me and everything inside me warmed. It was good to have him back.

***

“This way,” David said, leading us down the marbled hallway of Allcot’s Victorian mansion. We were in the heart of Mid-City where most of the vampires had rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. But since it was early afternoon, the neighborhood appeared deserted. All the other vamps were dead to the world, so to speak.

There was an eerie silence in the large mansion. I didn’t even know if Allcot was there. He had an office downtown where he spent most of his days. He was old enough that even before he’d turned into a daywalker, he hadn’t needed to sleep during the day. Of course, now that he could walk in the sun, there was no telling where he was.

Heavy drapes lined the windows, and ornate wall sconces lit the hall with a soft glow. All of it seemed so incredibly formal to me. I couldn’t imagine living in such a place.

“In here.” David opened the double doors at the end of the hallway. The place was bright with recessed lighting and was all white, sterile like a hospital.

Three hospital beds were lined up in the large room, each equipped with monitors and IV drips. I slowed my pace, shocked by the scene in front of me. Allcot had said the guards were weakening, but I hadn’t fully grasped the gravity of the situation. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I neared Harrison.

The tall, well-built, larger-than-life man I’d come to respect was now emaciated and lay lifeless in the bed. His features were ashen and gaunt as if he were wasting away to nothing.

“Oh no,” I said through my fingers, barely able to breathe.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” I heard Tal ask David. The concern in his voice told me he was just as shaken as I was.

I glanced back to him. He had a pad of paper out and was busy scribbling notes even though David hadn’t yet said a word. His features were pinched in concentration. Turning back to Harrison, I slipped my hand over his, wishing there was something I could do for him. Taking some of his energy and pushing it back into him was out of the question. He didn’t have anything else to give.

My tears spilled in silence down my cheeks. What kind of drug was this and where had the fae gotten it? I glanced at my phone and contemplated texting Phoebe. She was the most experienced witch I knew. She might have seen it used before or maybe had some sort of insight, something to help Talisen counteract it.

“Willow?” Talisen called.

I’d been so caught up in my despair and thoughts that I hadn’t even realized David was done filling Talisen in on the incident.

“Yeah?” I wiped my eyes, embarrassed I couldn’t seem to keep it together.

“David’s going to take you to your shop so you can get me some supplies. If that’s okay?”

“Of course. Anything you need.”

He tore off the piece of paper he’d been scribbling on and handed it to me. “Don’t be afraid to bring anything else you think will help with energy levels, strength, or even pain. If I’m close on my analysis, they might need it.”

I reached out and squeezed Tal’s hand. “Anything else? I have that crystal you gave me.”

He stared into my eyes for a moment. “That’s yours. So it’s your call. If I use it for this, it will likely be worthless afterward.”

“It’s fine,” I said without hesitation. “If it will help them, then of course I’ll bring it.”

“I knew you’d say that,” Tal said with a soft smile.

“Because she’s always willing to put everyone else first before her own safety,” David said, scowling at both of us.

“And you’re always the first to take her up on it, aren’t you, Laveaux?”

David straightened to his full height and moved toward Tal, his expression brooding. “Watch your tone, Kavanagh. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Talisen snorted while checking Harrison’s pulse. “Right. Like I’m not aware she almost died turning both you and your father. Seems as if someone who loved her would never ask her to do such a thing.”

I jumped between them moments before one of them threw the first punch. “That’s enough! Both of you. I’m not a prize to be fought over and this is all old news. Let’s focus on Harrison and his team, okay?”

“Fine by me,” Tal said, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m not the one who started this pissing match.”

I was well aware that David had instigated the altercation, but Talisen sure hadn’t done anything to stop it.

David inclined his head, his dark hair falling over one eye. “My apologies, Willow.”

Talisen rolled his eyes at David and then turned his attention once more to Harrison. He busied himself by running his hands over Harrison’s chest, no doubt trying to infuse him with some of his healing magic. I watched for a few moments, hoping to see some color blossom in Harrison’s features, but there was nothing. No change.

“Let’s go,” David said from the doorway. “The faster we get what he needs, the sooner this will be over.”

For now, but what about next time? Asher’s people weren’t going to stop using the poison that was so effective on their enemies. We had to stop them before the recipe became common knowledge.

For now, the only thing I could do was focus on Harrison and his crew recovering quickly. Once the immediate danger was taken care of, we could worry about the new drug, and Tal and I could get to work on finding out what Beau had been doing for Asher. Was there something more to his death than just being able to turn vampires into daywalkers?

Did the reason even matter? He’d died. But Beau was my twin, literally my other half, and something was telling me we needed to find out. That there was an answer to all the turmoil Asher was causing if only we had all the missing pieces.

David and I didn’t talk on the way to his car. I’d opted to leave Link with Talisen. I didn’t like the idea of Tal being in a vamp’s house with no backup. Not that I thought he was in any danger—Allcot needed him. But it made me feel better having them together.

Once we were on our way to The Fated Cupcake, David glanced over at me. “Are you going to tell me what happened last night?”

Red-hot anger burned my face. “Are you serious? Do you really think that’s what we should be talking about right now? For the record, I was going to spend the drive brainstorming all my ingredients just to be sure I don’t forget something at the shop. You know, focus on stuff that might help my friend.”

“Dammit, Willow. You know how I feel about Harrison. Don’t sit there and imply I’m a coldhearted bastard just because it’s driving me crazy not knowing where you were last night—with Kavanagh of all people.”

“What’s wrong with being out with Tal?” I asked, mostly just to piss him off. “I was sent there to bring him back, was I not?”

“You know what I mean. Stop being coy. Something happened yesterday and I want to know what it is.”

I didn’t care for his possessive tone. At all. Crossing my arms over my chest, I shook my head. “Talisen will fill Allcot in himself. It’s not my place to discuss it.”

David cast me a sidelong glance, appearing more interested than irritated now. “Really?”

“Yes. Really. Can we drop this? I need to focus.”

An odd mix of confusion and curiosity mingled in his expression as he nodded. Then, to my surprise, he reached over and grabbed my hand. Squeezing, he said, “Sorry. I was just worried. It’s hard having you thousands of miles away with no way to help.”