Obsession (26 page)

Jessica reached out again. “I can make you live again,” she whispered.

“It’s not real, sweetheart. The crystals on the belt are creating an illusion,” Raphael told her.

The vision of her mother vanished. Anger filled her. Jessica glared at Raphael. “How dare you say that?”

He shook his head. “Do you want to live in an illusion, Jessica? That’s not you. I know what it’s like to have your past drag you down, to make it rule every moment of your life until your every breath is only for those memories.”

Sorrow tinged his expression. “I was like that until you came into my life. Don’t let it cloud your future, Jess. Let it go.”

“Bastard. You want to take her away from me! She was my MOTHER!”

Power surged inside her, rippling like an ocean current. Jessica flung out her hand. Energy crackled and shot from her fingertips. The bolt hit Raphael, sending him hurling against a concrete pillar.

He hit it hard, and sank to the ground, his head bleeding.

“He wants to take those visions away from you, Jessica. All that’s left of your family. Our family. Don’t let him,” Jules told her.

Screaming with helpless rage, she flung out another power bolt at Raphael. He dodged it as he rolled to the ground.

“Don’t do it, Jess. I love you. Don’t let the crystals control you.” Bleeding heavily, Raphael staggered to his feet.

Power was hers, to use as she pleased. It flooded her mind, made her laugh. Jessica flung out her hands, watching as the blue-white power hit the arena railing, melting it instantly. So much magick, when she’d barely been able to shift before.

“I am invincible,” she shouted, sending a bolt of energy racing around the arena, directing it to slam into the chute gates. Wood exploded.

“You can be whatever you want,” Jules yelled. “Feel the power.”

She spotted a rat scurrying alongside the arena railing on the far side. Stupid, small disgusting creature. Laughing, she flung energy at the rat.

It vaporized.

And then she saw a thin, lanky boy about 12 climb over a chute gate and stumble into the arena. He raced through the corral, heading to the other side, and then saw her.

And froze, like a helpless deer.

Daniel. The boy who’d called her evil. The boy who was her enemy.

Destroy him. He would never call her names again.

Energy sizzled on her fingertips. She raised her hand to extinguish Daniel, who had made her feel alienated.

“Jessica, stop!”

Raphael’s shout made her hesitate.

“Jessica, this isn’t you. It’s your brother, working through you, using the crystals to turn you against everything you cherish. This isn’t the Jess who was kind to a child who felt all alone. Remember what you did for Daniel?” Raphael shouted.

Cowering on the ground, Daniel held out his hands. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Sweetheart, is this what your mother would have wanted for you? She loved you. She died, trying to protect you,” Raphael told her.

Her mother loved her, sang to her, and rocked her to sleep. Her mother had died, covering Jessica’s body with her own.

This isn’t me.

It was the crystals, twisting her inside, turning her evil.

Evil as her ancestor. Evil as her father when he’d destroyed her family. Evil as Jules.

Daniel was an innocent child. Like her, he’d been outcast, alone.

Her mother was dead, at the hands of her father. She would never come back.

A whimper tore her attention to Daniel, who was shaking. Horrified, she flung the bolt of energy at a concrete pillar, watching the pillar shatter.

“Run,” she screamed at Daniel. “Run! I don’t know if I can control this!”

Crying out, Daniel raced out of the corral and the arena.

Desperate to unload the evil power, she unbuckled the belt and tugged it off. But then like a snake, it wrapped around her arm and cinched tight. Jules’ influence still held power over the belt and her brother wouldn’t release her. Jules craved power, like their ancestor Andromeda, and he would hold on to her as long as he could…

“It won’t let go. Help me!” she cried out to Raphael.

“I won’t let this happen to you, Jess,” he shouted.

Racing forward, he wrapped his arms around her. Emotions flooded out the hatred, the rush of power. Raphael loved her. He was willing to risk everything for her. Pure love could defeat evil.

“Help me,” she told him, holding him tight. “Help me defeat this. I can’t do it alone.”

He kept holding her. “Just think of how much I love you,” he whispered. “Hold that thought. Don’t let go of it!”

Then he stepped back, took hold of the belt and ripped it away from her arm. Raphael ran to the exit and went to fling it far away.

Enormous relief flooded her. Gone was the oppressive heaviness, the cruelty sinking its claws inside her, the desire to hurt. Drained and weary, Jessica sagged against a post. She couldn’t move.

“No!” Jules fumbled with the waistband of his trousers and withdrew a shining silver handgun. Rage twisted his handsome features into an ugly mask. “Bitch. You’ll die for this.”

Horrified, she looked into her brother’s eyes. Gone was any trace of compassion or even a hint of love. He was truly evil. The belt’s powers had drained her and she could not even lift a finger. She would die here.

A deep growl sounded. Raphael shifted into wolf and ran toward Jules as her brother smiled. “Good-bye sister. I thought you felt as I did, but I was wrong.”

His laugh turned into a yell as Raphael leapt upon him, fangs flashing, tearing into Jules. Gunfire exploded, but the wolf kept tearing at Jules, rending his flesh.

Raphael sank his teeth into Jules’ wrist and her brother screamed. Then Raphael sank his teeth into Jules’ neck.

She turned away, nauseated at the metallic stench of blood. It was over in a minute.

Raphael shifted back, and clothed himself. He went to her.

“You okay?”

Jessica nodded dully. He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you wanted him to be different. I know how much you wanted to have family.”

She managed a weak smile. “Not that dysfunctional.”

Raphael chanted some strange words. A flash of silver, and a tall, handsome man in black stood before her. A memory tingled. A handsome man, clad in black, lifting her into his arms and soothing her whimpering cries.

“Tristan.” Raphael inclined his head in a show of respect.

Tristan, the Silver Wizard.

Nodding at the dead Jules, Raphael looked at Tristan. “I killed him. Hold me accountable if you must.”

Tristan regarded Jules with a headshake. “What a waste of life. He could have lived without power. But he chose darkness instead.” Tristan waved a hand and the body of Jules vaporized.

Jessica stared the ground where her brother had fallen. Deeply shaken, she couldn’t stop trembling.

“Why couldn’t he have loved me?” she whispered. “All I ever wanted was to be loved.”

Tristan gave a soft smile. “It wasn’t in him to love. But the Tyrells loved you, like they loved their own.”

The wizard squatted down, traced a rune in the dirt. “When you were five, your father found Andromeda’s belt and put it on. The rush of power drove him mad, and he killed your family. Jules saved you and killed your father, then took you far away and abandoned you in a field. I wiped out your memories to protect you and gave you to the Tyrells to adopt and raise.”

“And Jules?”

Rising, Tristan dusted off his hands. “He was seething with rage and the mad thirst for power, knowing you would always be stronger, as the female descendants of Andromeda have been. I stripped him of his Lupine powers to protect him, and protect anyone else from his wrath. Seven years ago, he finally returned to your family’s house. He found the belt and like your father, put it on. The crystals are dangerous, especially for males. Many years ago, Xavier, the Crystal Wizard, fashioned the stones as gift for Andromeda, when he became besotted with her. They enhanced her beauty, but also fed her so much magick she became dangerous. With men, the crystals simply make them go…mad.”

Tristan glanced at the sky. “You should take better care of your toys, Xavier.”

A distant “Fuck you,” echoed through the air.

“The crystals gave Jules the power to command Others. He called forth 20 Changeling Gnomes, the most foul Others. But he craved respect and attention and wanted to rule. He headed to the desert, moving north, and came upon Raphael, the most powerful pack leader in New Mexico. He appeared weak and helpless and needed a place to stay. By now the belt had corrupted him.

“Xavier embedded a failsafe into the crystals so that once used for power, they would grow cold and work for that Lupine no more. After he left you, Raphael, the belt proved useless to Jules. So he hid it in a safe place, and escaped the army of Gnomes he could no longer command.”

The Silver Wizard regarded her with a compassionate look.

“Jules knew you could access the belt’s powers, Jessica. And he employed a simple spell uttered by a witch to find the next blooded, living descendant of Andromeda. He was using the belt and its past connection to him to send thoughts into your mind to corrupt you. Each time you wore the belt, it darkened you more. But you are strong enough to resist the lure of pure power, and you have a kind heart. The stones have the unfortunate ability to amplify your own deepest desires. It can prove dangerous to men. It even broadcasts a female’s pheromones when she comes into her heat, driving all males wild with desire.”

“That’s why all they were cranked up at the rodeo,” Raphael realized. “When you wore the belt Jessica, it affected all the males, both mated and single.”

So much power. It terrified her, and yet made her feel exhilarated. She, the Lupine who could never heal properly, who had been the weakest in her pack, was now the most powerful.

The wizard looked at her with dark, cold eyes. So old, and cold, as if he’d lived many centuries and had seen many things. He snapped his fingers and the crystal belt appeared in his palms. He handed it to her. “I cannot force you to give up the crystal belt, Jessica. The choice must be yours.”

She fingered the stones. So pretty. Powerful. It had belonged to her ancestor, who had been almost as powerful as a goddess.

Mine.

Staring at the crystals, she felt their ancient pull. Like diamonds, the stones glittered. They seemed to beckon to her. The crystals promised many things. Wearing the belt had made her feel prettier, sexier and less vulnerable.

She could rule with this belt.

Then Jessica glanced up and saw Raphael, the watchful look in his eyes, the hint of haunted vulnerability.

This Lupine had risked his very life for her. And the stones had done nothing but hurt him.

She held out the belt like an offering. “Can you call its rightful owner here?”

Tristan murmured a chant.

Nothing.

“Stubborn ass,” he growled. “Xavier!”

A flash of pure white smoke produced a tall man clad in shining silver and white. He stepped forward. His eyes were ice blue and he was not smiling.

The Crystal Wizard. Belly trembling, she swallowed hard. Jessica took one last look at the belt. For a moment, she was tempted.

And then she remembered all the pain and suffering Raphael had endured.

“This is yours.” She handed the belt over to Xavier, who took it. The wizard nodded. Then he waved a hand and the material vanished, leaving him clutching a handful of sparkling stones. Xavier threw them up in the air and they shimmered, twirling in the air, forming a globe the size of a softball.

“I gave her these stones,” he murmured, watching the sphere spin above his outstretched palm. “Andromeda always admired them. But she begged me to put them on a belt so she could use them to adorn her beauty. I told her she was beautiful enough without them. But she would not listen and told me if I loved her, I would let her wear them. So I gave in and wove them onto a violet girdle. And eventually, it killed Andromeda. I killed her.”

“You did not destroy her, my friend,” Tristan said solemnly. “Her pack did. Her greed for power was her downfall.”

His face was sad as he looked at Tristan. “If I had held fast and not given in to her demands, she would have lived.”

The Crystal Wizard stared at the stones. “I should have destroyed these long ago, but could not bear to. It was my last link to Andromeda. She was…”

His voice died. Then he looked up and the sorrow on his face vanished, replaced with cynicism. As he dropped his palm, the stones fell to the earth.

“Time to let go for good. Stand back.”

When they did, Tristan rolled his eyes. “Theatrics. A simple lightning bolt will not suffice, not for you, Xavier.”

“I always put on a good show,” the Crystal Wizard agreed.

He lifted his hands and uttered a chant. Power sizzled and crackled, filling the air with white-bluish light. The Crystal Wizard pointed a single finger at the stones, now lying on the ground.