Sinful Magic (38 page)

“Roxy?” Carla said softly.

“Sorry.” She snapped out of it. “What did the Ancestors say?”

“They said Dyfyr can absolutely work through your chakras. He created your gift of magic, so that will work. But you should have your third eye open; that’s where you connected with him, and it will give him the most access. You must try to keep it open. Even if Key can’t take all your pain.” She paused.

Darcy sat forward. “I think we should be there, Roxy. We can help you.”

She flushed. “I can’t.” She’d never be able to release her sex magic to get to her third eye with them there, watching. And if they had to have sex

Before she’d Awakened, the idea had horrified her on a purely moral level. But now

the intimacy she shared with Key, she couldn’t

“I know,” Darcy put her hand on her arm. “I wouldn’t like it either. But this is your life, and your baby’s.”

“I have a better idea,” Ailish said. “Roxy, you and Key use our backyard. For one thing, it has power there, it’s where Phoenix and I both reached Wing Slayer when we needed him. Second, Phoenix and I will stay in the house. But if you need help, I’ll come out.” She grinned then. “I can’t see, so I won’t care if you’re both naked, oiled, and covered in purple glitter.”

That image caused her to choke.

“But more important, I’m a siren witch. I can sing and enhance your magic, and possibly the dragon’s magic working through you. I know that I can help you hold your chakras open and take your pain. Basically, you’ll have privacy unless you’re in trouble.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Carla said.

“Brilliant,” Darcy said. “And we can always lend our power through Ailish if you need it.”

She looked at the three witches and was humbled. Carla was smart and compassionate, Darcy was passionate and loyal, Ailish was brash and strong with a huge heart. And they accepted her. “Thank you. I—”

The door opened, and the three hunters strode in. Roxy leaped to her feet and met Key by the pool table. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Dyfyr sat on his chest, little tendrils of smoke rising from his nostrils. “What’s he mad about?” Roxy asked, reaching out to stroke the dragon. The smoke vanished.

Key put his hand over hers and looked down, his eyes full of gray menace. “Can’t get to Liam. We fought those mini–Death Daggers, but we can’t destroy them. Dyfyr senses Liam, I think.”

Roxy agreed. “He’s furious at Liam, and at the demon for killing his fertility witches to regrow Liam’s heart.” She looked up at Key.

“We won’t let him get the Tear.” Key ground his jaw; his gaze dropped to where it pulsed under her shirt.

Phoenix handed out bottles of cold beer. “You come from a long line of geniuses, comic boy. Your mother trying to get the soul of an enraged dragon into you. Yeah

”

Roxy shuddered at the memory of Liam when she’d been at his mercy. “He doesn’t care,” she said softly. “His eyes

blue and empty. Except when I screamed, he liked that.”

Key set the beer on the pool table and hauled her to his chest, his arms wrapping around her. “You’re safe. We’re not going to let him get you again, Roxy.” He spread his hand over her lower back.

Comfort eased through her muscles. She lifted her head to look at him. “I know that. I’m trying to explain what I saw, what he is. Said he was blood-born, but he’s still empty and soulless and

” She turned out of his embrace, leaning her hands on the pool table. “He survived by the blood of fertility witches. It’s made him stronger, faster. He thinks he can control Dyfyr. In his crazed mind, the witch blood brought him back from the dead, so it’ll also allow him to control Dyfyr. Then he’ll have a soul. He will be completely reborn. Blood-born.”

“Bat-shit crazy is more like it,” Phoenix snarled.

Key put his hands on her shoulders. “He’ll never get the chance to find out,” he said fiercely. “We’re getting that Tear out of you tonight.” His fingers tightened. “Maybe we should do it now. Liam is planning something—both Dyfyr and I feel it.”

Ailish said, “Key, we have a plan for you and Roxy to get the Tear out after Eli’s ceremony. Phoenix and I will stay in the house, but if Roxy needs me, I can use my voice.”

Axel strode in from the back of the warehouse. “And if you wait until after the ceremony, Wing Slayer’s god powers will be strengthened. Every hunter who commits to him increases his power.”

“Roxy?”

She looked up to see his gaze on her. She wanted to live. Desperately. “Tonight. At Ailish and Phoenix’s house.”

Key joined all the hunters out in Phoenix’s backyard. The witches stayed inside. This was a ceremony between Wing Slayer and his chosen. Key took off his shirt, laid it on the patio table, and walked down the stairs to the sloping grass. The night air was damp with the faintest whiff of the sea.

The recruits who hadn’t yet achieved Wing Slayer Hunter status all stood about ten feet back on the left, watching. Eli stood with them. Phoenix’s house was on the top of a hill overlooking a tract of homes. Axel took the point, looking down over the development. The moonlight showed his powerful back as his brown and gold hawk wings sprang out.

Sutton’s wings flashed out, and he moved to Axel’s left, and Ram stepped up next, his thunderbird tattoo showing on his chest. Key moved to Axel’s right, and his wings popped out. Phoenix stood next to him, his phoenix wings whooshing out. Linc fell in behind them, his falcon tattoo visible on his back. They were in wing formation.

The silence settled with a quiet reverence. The wind blew the grass, and the trees bent and moved so that long shadows of the branches swayed over them.

Axel nodded, and Eli broke from the other recruits and walked to stand before the hawk. The outline of his griffin tat was clearly visible on his back; the head of an eagle looking to the side, dramatic wings rising from the lion’s body, with each feather distinct. Eli handed the hawk his silver knife.

Axel said, “Your test?”

Eli answered, “Follow the law of protection by taking a knife strike meant to kill a mortal woman and her son.”

“Did you know them?”

“No. It makes no difference. They were innocents.”

Key felt Eli’s passion and anger. His own sister had been threatened and used to try to force him to kill a witch and go rogue. Phoenix had shown up in time to save his sister. Eli had been in a hellish situation. He understood helplessness, and he would fight to his death to defend those in that position.

“Accepted,” Axel said. “Your vow.”

Eli’s head lifted, his shoulders spread, and he said in a clear voice, “I vow my allegiance to Wing Slayer, god of the witch hunters. I take the ancient oath of protection for the innocent and justice for the damned. And I swear to fight the curse to my death.”

“And your sacrifice.” He handed the knife to Eli.

The hunter took it and said, “My life’s blood for protection and justice in the name of Wing Slayer.” He sliced his arm, letting the blood drip onto the grass at his feet.

Silence spread out, and even the breeze stilled.

This was the moment that Wing Slayer would accept or reject Eli. Key felt the sudden change in the air vibrate in his wings. A sudden fierce wind whipped across the grounds, blowing grass and leaves; the shadows of the tree branches bent and swelled. Time slowed with expectation—

Then was shattered by piercing alarms from all their cellphones.

Key jerked his phone out. The alarms at the club and his loft were going off.

“The witches are getting alarms, too,” Sutton said as he scrolled through the screens.

“Hold formation!” Axel said, his voice thundering.

Each man stilled. A sharp, tangy scent surrounded them as a large, winged outline fell over Eli.

The edge of the heavy darkness touched Key, creating an electrical rush, a power so intense, he couldn’t breathe.

Wing Slayer.

Then the shadow vanished, gone as quickly as it came. The wind faded back to a breeze, the trees grew calm, the scent left.

Axel said, “Eli Stone, in our wing formation. You are marked a Wing Slayer Hunter.”

Eli moved to stand next to Ram, the griffin tat on his back completed. The wings were bronze and gold, filling the shape Key had outlined. The eagle head and lion body were all there, the creature looking as fiercely intelligent as the mythology claimed.

It was a moment to celebrate, but the alarms were still blaring. Axel broke formation, striding toward the house, his wings disappearing instantly. “Sutton, status!”

“Three reports of witches taken. If they have their cells we can track them. Alarm at the club going off, cameras show broken window, nothing else. Key’s loft—”

“On fire.” Key stared at the flames on his phone before the camera at his loft died. All he could think was, thank Wing Slayer Roxy was safe here at Phoenix’s house.

Axel led them inside. “It’s an organized attack. Ram, you coordinate and mobilize.”

Key’s wings folded up and vanished as he walked through the door. Then Roxy slammed into him. He got his arm around her to steady her.

“My parents! He has my parents!” Her face was so white, the scattering of freckles looked like blood. Grabbing her phone from her, he looked. He recognized Gwen; she was cut in multiple places and tied up. Next to her was a man in his fifties sporting fresh bruises beneath thick white hair and tied up next to her. The text read, “I’ll kill your mother first, then your father. Ten minutes until the real fun starts here at Grace Chapel.” He felt Roxy’s terror, her guilt at what Liam had been doing.

“That’s the little church close to the cemetery,” Phoenix said, looking over Key’s shoulder.

Key nodded, “I’ll get them, Roxy. You stay here. Don’t step outside.” Urgency rode his spine.

“Going with you,” Phoenix said. “It’s a setup, but I don’t see how they think they’ll get Roxy.”

“Fire department is at your loft, Key,” Ram said. “Linc went to handle the club. Recruits are fanning out. Sutton and Axel, you two go after the missing witches. I’ll stay here with the women and coordinate. If you have headsets or Bluetooths, get them on and go.”

Key kissed Roxy and turned, hauling ass out the back door. His wings sprang out; he leaped into the air and climbed. Phoenix flew his left flank. Both of them put on their Bluetooths so they could communicate with each other and Ram.

As he flew, hot anger stabbed him. He should have gotten the Tear from Roxy today. Not waited. They weren’t immortal, and if Key died tonight, she had no chance of getting that Tear out.

His chest burned with his own and Dyfyr’s rage.

Liam wanted to meet Dyfyr? Key was going to introduce them.

They both circled the church with the A-line roof. Key spotted four rogues outside, and more had to be invisible. The church itself was about thirteen hundred square feet. The main chapel had four long, stained glass windows on either side.

“Ram, we need some recruits to take down the guards outside.”

“I have them in the area,” Ram responded. “ETA one to two minutes.”

While they waited, Key said, “See the stained glass windows. Ever flown through one?”

“Only you, comic boy. Birds die from hitting windows.”

“We aren’t birds. Besides, I have an idea. Keep watching.” Holding his invisible shield, Key called out his claws. Then he flew to the second window on one side, pulled the shield around himself and muted the sound waves, then he scored the glass in a rectangle. Carefully he eased back, then flew to the other side and did the same.

He returned closer to Phoenix. “Hit the second window, the one with the angel on it. I’ll go in the other side.”

Key saw four witch hunters materialize on the grounds and attack the rogues. The battle grew hot and bloody in seconds, the sounds echoing. Flying to his side of the church, Key said, “Now!” He flew straight for the window and hit it with his shoulder, and the glass popped out. His wings tangled. Key pulled them to his back, dropped to the floor in a roll, and came up holding his knife.

Phoenix, his wings tight to his sides, exploded through the glass and sailed up to the ceiling, catching hold of the rafters and hanging there.

“Last time I listen to you, dragon boy,” he bellowed.

Key ignored him and took in the scene. There weren’t any rogues, just the bodies of Roxy’s parents. Her mother was drained, her father had his throat cut. Key strode up to them. “He killed them and left. Murdered her parents.” He stared down at the witch who had summoned Dyfyr’s soul into Key. He didn’t feel anything now but sadness. He closed his eyes.

“I have to tell Roxy.” He glanced at her father. The man who’d fired her for releasing her magic. Such a waste. His Roxy was a special woman, and Key couldn’t fathom how her father had just thrown her away.

“Key, there’s more trouble,” Phoenix said. “Hell’s breaking loose all over.”

He turned and ran out.

Ailish’s living room was turning into a witch triage. They’d helped four witches the hunters had rescued and healed any injuries the men had suffered, then sent them back out. It was a hellish night.

What about her parents? She hadn’t heard anything yet.

More witches were taken. The alarms kept going off; the Circle Witches were all trying to help by checking to make sure other witches weren’t missing that they didn’t know about. They were working with Ram in the kitchen, and everyone’s nerves were frayed.

And she’d felt a strange sadness coming from Key. She knew in her heart her parents were dead. He was just waiting to tell her in person. Ram knew it too. Roxy was pretty sure Phoenix had told him; she could see it in his blue eyes.

Her baby wouldn’t have any grandparents now. Her chest hurt. Ram pressed a bottle of green tea into her hand. “Go sit down.” She took the tea and walked back into the living room, sinking onto the couch. Her father had probably blamed her as he died.

Her phone rang, and she took it out and was surprised to see the screen. She answered, “Shayla, where are you?”

“In a motel.” Her voice was thin and strained. “They left me here.”

Roxy sat up, slapping the tea on the coffee table. “What?” She clutched the phone tighter. “They?”