The Calling (4 page)

“I think I'm a little out of my depth,” he murmured.

“Me too,” I admitted. Seeing the downcast look on his face, I asked, “Where's Bree?”

Robbie gestured silently toward the café. I spotted Bree talking to a tall, handsome man with copper-colored hair. As we watched, she turned to a younger guy, maybe seventeen or so, and with a hand on his arm she drew him into the conversation, giving him a teasing smile.

Robbie groaned. “Tell me the truth, Morgan. Am I a masochist or simply out of my mind? I mean, why do I even bother?”

“I know it looks bad,” I said, trying not to get angry at Bree, “but I really don't think it means anything.”

“Well, it feels awful,” Robbie said. “It—” He was cut off when a girl wearing body glitter, a gold sports top, and tiny little gold shorts took his hand. “Dance with me?” she asked.

Robbie gulped, nodded, and let himself be led out onto the dance floor.

My senses were wide open now, trying to process the stunning array of magick. One guy in particular caught my eye. He was probably nineteen or twenty, with a muscular body and glossy, dark brown hair that fell to his shoulders. He was heading toward Raven, who stood near me, and there was something reckless and confident in his eyes. He wasn't exactly gorgeous, but he was very sexy. And I could sense his power from yards away. He was strong.

Then, to my shock, he stopped in front of me. “Don't I know you from somewhere?” he asked with a frown.

Was that a pickup line? I wondered, slightly panicked. Or did he really know me? Come to think of it, there was something vaguely familiar about him, too….

“Um—I've never been here before,” I said cautiously.

“Hmmm. Well, stop looking so impressed,” he said with a grin. “These New York witches all think they're so hot. It's not healthy to encourage them. Besides”—his eyes raked me appraisingly—“I reckon you're worth the lot of them.”

Before I could figure out how to respond to that, he walked past me to Raven, stopped in front of her, and said, “There you are, love. I've been waiting for you.”

Raven glanced at him in surprise. His grin got even wider, and he pulled her onto the dance floor.

I recognized a familiar presence behind me. Sky. There was nothing sloppy about Sky's being or her power. Everything about her was clear, precise, and honed, like an elegant arrow.

“So, what do you think of this place?” Sky asked.

“It's…intense.”

She looked at me and laughed. “That's a good word for it. There are more blood witches here than you may ever see in one place again. Some of them highly eccentric.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Sky knew so much about the world I'd only recently come to be part of.

She nodded toward a woman spinning in place to the beat, one arm stretched high overhead. “That one, for instance. She'll only cast spells that involve using nightshade. And he,” she said, gesturing toward a small, dark-haired man at the bar, “spent years living in a cave on the coast of Scotland.”

“Why?”

“Teaching himself to work with the sea. He's remarkable at scrying with water. And he has a strong affinity for the ocean and its creatures.”

“Sky,
ma chère
.” A tall, elegant woman in a silver gown came up, kissed Sky on both cheeks, and began a rapid exchange in French.

I watched, slightly awed.

“That's Mathilde,” Sky said as the Frenchwoman moved on. “Sorry I didn't introduce you, but she was in a hurry. She's got an amazing greenhouse on her roof. Every herb a witch could want.”

“How do you know all these people?” I asked.

“Some I know from Europe. Others I met coming here with Hunter,” she explained. “This is a good place for him to make connections.”

I glanced around but didn't see Hunter's blond hair anywhere.

Sky answered my unasked question. “He's upstairs, talking to some people. Trying to get leads.”

A shout drew our attention back to the dance floor, where a space had opened around Raven and her partner. They were doing some kind of dance that involved a lot of athletic gyrating and shimmying.

I glanced at Sky. Her face was blank, neutral, but her eyes never left Raven and her partner. As if conscious of her gaze, the wild guy looked straight at her and laughed.

I felt sudden sympathy for Sky. “Don't let them upset you.” As the words left my mouth, I was shocked at my own presumptuousness. Me, consoling Sky?

But she simply gave me a rueful half smile. “I'll get over it. Raven has to be who she is.”

She nodded toward Robbie and the gorgeous girl dancing with him. Robbie looked mystified by the attention.

“He still doesn't understand how attractive he is,” Sky said. “I wonder if Bree does.”

Bree was still standing in the café, three men around her, but her gaze was focused across the floor on Robbie.

“Maybe she's starting to,” I said.

Hunter came up behind me then, and I felt a thrill along my nerve endings as he rested his hands lightly on my hips. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“I'm a little overwhelmed,” I answered, turning to face him.

He gave me an apologetic smile. “I should have prepared you.”

“No, it's okay. Sky's orienting me. It's…fascinating. I just didn't expect it.”

“Yes, well, meet your people,” he said wryly.

“Did you talk to the DJ?” Sky wanted to know.

Hunter nodded. “If he knows anything, he's not telling. But I did find someone who used to date a member of Amyranth. He'll talk to me, but not here. I've arranged to meet him tomorrow at a ridiculous hour of the morning, at the most inconvenient, out-of-the-way place he could think of.” He gave Sky a grin. “Sorry. I know you're not a morning person. But I really need you with me. This one sounds like he might give me some trouble.”

Sky nodded. “Fine. Just promise you'll buy me a coffee.”

My rational, mathematical self told me I was being silly—Hunter was keeping me out for my own safety—but I couldn't help feeling irked at the way they both just took it for granted that Sky was the one who helped Hunter, that the two of them were a team, while I was just a bumbling novice who had to be kept out of harm's way. It wasn't fair—especially not now. It was
my
dream that had started this, after all.

A black light flared above us, turning Hunter's white shirt neon purple, his hair a bright silky lavender. He kissed me lightly on the mouth. “I've got to go now, but I'll be back. Dance, why don't you?”

“Oh, thank you very much,” I muttered. “You know how much I love dancing. Especially alone.”

But he was already moving past me to have a quick whispered conference with Sky, which did nothing to improve my mood. Then he headed off toward the stage. The tall African American man pointed at Hunter with a knowing grin, then made his way down from the stage to talk to him. I had to admit, it was impressive seeing how at ease Hunter was with so many people. I knew I could never extract information from strangers like that.

Sky drifted back toward me, and I had the feeling that Hunter had told her to look out for me. My irritation deepened. Luckily I was relieved of the need to make awkward conversation by Robbie, who came up to us looking sweaty and exhausted. “Man, that girl can move,” he said, waving at his partner. He blinked in surprise as a waitress approached him with a glass of wine balanced on a round tray.

“The lady over there”—she indicated a tall woman with long, ebony hair who was dressed entirely in leather—“sends it to you with her compliments.”

“Uh, tell her thanks, would you?” Robbie sounded flustered. “But I don't drink.”

“I'll tell her,” the waitress said reluctantly. “But if you don't want to offend her—and I'd advise you not to—you won't send the wine back.”

Robbie smiled weakly at the woman in leather and took the glass of wine.

I gave a low whistle. “You're getting a lot of attention tonight.” I peeked covertly at Bree and was glad to see that she hadn't missed the exchange with Leather Woman, either. She'd stopped even pretending to flirt with the guys around her and was just standing there, looking sulky.

Robbie, however, didn't look pleased. “It's a little freaky. Two witches have asked me out tonight.”

“You have something against us?” I teased him.

“Not you,” he said seriously. “But apart from the fact that I'm in love with Bree, I want a relationship of equals, not someone who can put spells on me without my even knowing.”

I winced. When I was just getting acquainted with Wicca, I'd given Robbie a spelled potion to help heal his acne, which had been really out of control. It had done the job—in fact, it had more than done the job; it had gone so far as to correct his terrible eyesight—but Robbie had been upset with me for doing magick on him without telling him.

“What is his problem?” Sky said suddenly. Her eyes were on Raven and the long-haired guy. “Is he a complete exhibitionist?”

I looked, too. The guy had taken off his shirt. His body was thin but looked hard and well muscled.

Raven sent an amused glance toward Sky, as if to say, Do you believe this? Her dancing partner put his hands on her butt and pulled her close, and then pinwheels of colored light were raining down around them, and Raven was laughing, trying to catch one in her hand. The guy traced a sign in the air, and three of them rested on her palm.

I couldn't suppress a gasp. I was half appalled at his recklessness, half delighted by his clever, beautiful magick.

“Oh, man,” Robbie muttered. “What is that?”

“It's showy and irresponsible, that's what it is,” Sky said, sounding angry. “That cocky little bugger. Anyone could be watching him.”

Raven and the guy were dancing close now, grinding pelvises. “That's enough,” Sky said, and strode toward them. I saw her take Raven's arm and say something in her ear.

“Maybe I'd better go find Bree,” Robbie said with a sigh. “If she hasn't already left with someone else.”

“She wouldn't do that,” I told him.

“You don't think so?” Robbie's smile was sad as he moved away. It made me want to shake Bree. She really liked Robbie. Why couldn't she just let things happen with him?

I headed for the café and got a Diet Coke. Then I looked around for Hunter. Nowhere in sight. I sighed, too, and tried not to feel too much like a wallflower.

A woman in a short black dress sauntered up to me. “Don't be so self-conscious,
chica
,” she said. She was beautiful, with coffee-colored skin and black hair that framed her face in waves. “All this energy spent thinking you are not beautiful enough, not good enough. It's a waste. You must take all this healing energy you have and make a salve for your own heart, no? Life is too short to be so hard on yourself.”

I stood there, blinking stupidly. She was gazing into my eyes, into my soul, and I felt stripped, vulnerable.

“Um…excuse me,” I said. “I have to go.”

I shut down my senses and bolted for a door marked Exit. I didn't plan to go far. I just needed to be out of there, away from all that magick for a few minutes.

I thought the door would lead to the street. Instead I found myself in a small courtyard planted with skinny oak saplings. I wasn't alone. A man with short-cropped, silver-flecked dark hair stood in the yard, staring up at a big square of the night sky. Even with my senses shut down I felt a surge of energy—deep, vital energy, not the fractured, hectic kind that ruled inside. Whether it was from the man or the giant orange moon, I couldn't be sure.

I sat down on a bench at the edge of the courtyard and gazed up at the moon, wondering what he was seeing. As I looked, I felt my frazzled nerve endings begin to relax. The moon was so eternal, so familiar in this place where everything else was so strange. I breathed deeply, and peace began to creep back into my body.

“The moon is our anchor,” the man said without looking at me.

Ordinarily I would have been startled by these bizarre words coming from a total stranger. But at that moment my only thought was, Yes. I didn't feel the need to respond aloud, and he didn't seem to expect me to.

I stared at the moon, letting it anchor me.

I gazed up at the winter moon. I could feel my own power coursing through me, untainted by questions of whether I'd misused it or whether I was worth the sacrifice of Cal's life. It was as if my world had silently, subtly slipped into perfect balance. A few yards away from me the dark-haired man stood silent. He hadn't looked at me once, but I felt a strange connection between us, as sure and strong as if he'd thrown me a rope.

Where are you? Hunter's witch message almost made me jump. Reluctantly I stood up. The man nodded, as if acknowledging that I was leaving, but didn't say a word. I returned to the club, feeling I'd just been given a strange but lovely gift.

I found my friends gathered on a semicircular leather couch in the bar area. The showy witch Raven had been dancing with sat next to her on the very end of the couch.

Sky looked up as I approached. “Morgan, this is Killian,” she said, her voice perfectly neutral, which made me wonder what I'd missed.

Killian gave me a grin, held out his hand, and said, “Enchanted.”

Hunter made room for me beside him. Killian's dark eyes flickered between us, and I wondered if he could tell that just sitting next to Hunter made my whole body feel more alive.

Bree was looking at Killian with a calculating expression. “So you're another Brit?” she asked.

“Yeah, we're all over New York, a ruddy plague of us,” he admitted cheerfully.

His accent was different from Hunter's and Sky's. I was glad when Robbie asked, “Which part of England?”

“Oh, I've done the whole miserable U.K. Born in Scotland, went to school in London, spent time in Ireland, summers in Wales and the Shetlands. And in all those places it rains too bleeding much. I'm still damp.” He held out his arm to me. “Can you see the moss?”

I couldn't help laughing, liking him. He was definitely appealing. His features weren't perfect, like Cal's had been, and he didn't have Hunter's classic, chiseled bone structure, but he had energy. There was something wild, almost animal, about him. I wondered which clan he belonged to. But I knew I couldn't ask. Among witches, that question was considered very intrusive.

Killian got to his feet. “I'm going to get a beer. Anyone want one?”

“You're twenty-one?” I asked, surprised. He didn't look any older than the rest of us.

“Almost twenty,” he admitted with a grin, “but I age well.” As he spoke, he drew a sign in the air, and the planes of his face became softer and fuller. Lines appeared across his forehead, and a crease deepened between his brows. Anyone would have thought he was pushing thirty. “Now…beer, wine, scotch, anyone?”

“I'll have a beer, too,” Raven said, looking smitten.

“A Sprite would be great,” Robbie said.

“Sprite it is,” Killian said graciously, but I could sense mockery.

“He's good,” Bree said as Killian started off for the crowded bar.

“It was just a glamor,” Sky said dismissively. “A trick of the eye.”

Bree looked at me. “What do you think of him?”

I shrugged, unsure of how to answer. On one level, I couldn't help liking him, his cheerful irreverence and the fact that he seemed to be having such a good time just being Killian. But there was also something about him that alarmed me, something dangerous in his raw, animal spirits. And there was the fact that when he cast that glamor, I felt pure envy. I knew I had the power to pull off magick like that, yet my lack of experience held me back. Alyce didn't know how to cast glamors, and neither did I.

Hunter gave me an odd look. “What's bothering you?”

“I don't know.” I shifted in my seat, annoyed with myself for being so competitive. A good Wiccan would be able to simply enjoy Killian's power for what it was.

“I'm not sure I trust him,” Hunter said thoughtfully. His eyes followed Killian as he scored the two beers and Robbie's soda.

Raven lit a cigarette and blew smoke through her nostrils at us. “What is your collective problem?” she asked. “So Killian shows off a little with his magick. All it means is he's different.”

“That's one word for it,” said Sky, her voice acid-edged.

Killian returned then, his glamor dissolved, and gave Robbie and Raven their drinks. “How long are you going to be in the city?” he asked Raven.

Raven started to answer, only to be silenced by a warning look from Hunter. “Uh, I'm not sure,” she said.

“So, will I see you again?” he persisted.

“Maybe,” she said. She slid a quick glance at Sky, as if to ask, How far will you let me push you? before she added, “Why don't you give me your number?”

He gave her a wide-eyed look. “Would you believe I'm staying with friends and I can't remember their number? How about you give me your number?”

It was a transparent lie, and I wondered why he told it, especially since he didn't make any real effort to be convincing. I could feel Sky reaching a silent boil. Raven must have felt it, too, because she shrugged, downed her beer, and got to her feet. “Same here,” she said. “Can't remember it. Guess I'll see you when I see you.”

Killian held out his hand and pulled her to him. Then he gave her a quick kiss, teetering on the edge between friendly and sexual.

I glanced at Sky in alarm. Her face was set, her nostrils flared.

“Raven, we're leaving now,” Hunter said loudly.

Raven looked at Killian and shrugged. “Gotta go.”

Killian's dark brows rose. “Must you?”

“Yes, we must,” Hunter said. We retrieved our coats and trailed out of the club into the frigid streets.

We started back to the apartment. Sky and Raven walked ahead, maintaining an icy distance between themselves and us. Robbie slung an arm around Bree's shoulders, and they walked on like that, quiet and compatible. Whatever ups and downs they'd had during the evening, they seemed to have ended it on an upward trend.

Hunter was quiet, too, and walking slowly enough that we fell behind Robbie and Bree after a block or two. “Thinking about your job?” I guessed.

He nodded in a distracted way.

How could he focus so intensely on something so nebulous, so unformed? I couldn't—especially not when I was around him. I felt the familiar rush of insecurity. Did he even love me? He'd never said he did.

Of course he does, I told myself. He's just not as obvious about it as Cal was.

Feeling suddenly sad, I pulled my jacket tighter. Above us white stars blazed through a clear black night. The moon was gone, dropped somewhere behind the Manhattan skyline.

“Cold?” Hunter asked, pulling me against him.

“I'm not so sure I want to go to that club again,” I told him. “The amount of magick flying around was almost too much.”

“It was intense, that's true. But it's good to be exposed to lots of magick, coming from lots of sources. Besides just increasing your general knowledge, it will help you to recognize and deal with dark magick. Which, as you know, is especially important for you.”

I felt my chest tighten. We'd already talked about this more than once—about the fact that Selene had been part of a larger conspiracy, that her death probably didn't mean I was safe from other members of her coven or from other factions altogether. I'm going to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, I thought bleakly.

Hunter pulled me to a stop under a streetlight. It cast harsh shadows on the planes of his face, making his cheekbones look razor sharp. “Don't worry,” he said gently. “I'm looking after you. And you can look after yourself pretty well, too, you know. Besides, if Amyranth knows about you at all, they'll know you're high on the council's radar right now.”

I thought of Killian. “Maybe I need to learn the art of magickal disguise.”

“That's the least of it.” Hunter frowned at me. “Why are you so eager to be casting glamors, anyway? I could see it in your eyes tonight. They went round with envy when Killian did his little parlor trick.”

“It's not just envy,” I said, thinking it through aloud. “It's knowing that I have the power to be like those other witches, except I don't know how to use it. It's like being given the key to this fabulous palace and seeing all these gorgeous rooms lit up inside but not knowing how to get the key into the lock.”

“Is that bad?” he asked. “You've only been practicing magick for two and a half months. And learning to wield magick properly is a lifetime's work.”

Oh Goddess, how sick I was of hearing that! I started walking again.

Hunter reached out, caught my arm, and pulled me toward him. “Morgan. You know that I want you to be able to put that key in the lock, don't you? I'm not trying to keep you out of the palace. I want you to come fully into your power, to be able to use every bit of magick in you.” His fingertips stroked my face, and I felt myself moving toward him. “I just don't want you or anyone else getting hurt in the process.”

“I know,” I breathed as he gently lowered his head to mine. Then his arms wrapped around me and our mouths met and I felt all the tension of the evening melt away. I opened myself to Hunter, and it was like a river of sapphire light poured into me, like he was washing me in his magick and his love. I felt my own heart open and my power moving, streaming through my body, twining with his. It felt like that spot on the Manhattan sidewalk was the center of the universe and the night and all its stars spun out from us. In that moment, in that place, I had no doubts, no insecurities.

Love, I thought. The ultimate magick.

Hunter and I were the last ones to get back to the apartment. Inside we found Robbie in the kitchen, emptying a bag of popcorn into a bowl, Bree taking sheets and blankets from the linen closet, and Sky and Raven standing at opposite ends of the living room. Mr. Warren was nowhere in sight.

Robbie consulted his watch as I hung up my jacket. “Where have you two been?” he asked, sounding like a disapproving parent.

“We…got a little lost,” Hunter said, flashing me a quick, secret smile that made my cold cheeks turn a shade more pink.

Raven grabbed a handful of popcorn. “So, where's everyone sleeping?” she asked.

No one answered. Sky stared out the window, Robbie concentrated on the popcorn, and Bree murmured something about pillowcases and returned to the linen closet.

Hunter's green eyes locked on me, and I found myself looking away, unaccountably shy all over again. Was it possible that we'd actually wind up in the same bed? Even if we did, I was fairly sure no one was going to be doing much fooling around—the apartment was just too cramped. I was secretly relieved. I wasn't quite ready for that. But my heart was pounding at the thought of sleeping with some part of my body touching Hunter's. I longed to be with him for a few peaceful hours without the confusion of consciousness. I longed to wake up in his arms.

I wondered what Bree and Robbie wanted to do. They seemed to be getting along now, but I wasn't about to discount what Bree had said in the market.

Bree, holding an armful of linens, cleared her throat. “Well, the living room couch folds out to a double bed. The bed in the guest room is a trundle bed, so it has another mattress under it, and there's a couch in the study.” She flashed an overly bright smile that proved she felt every bit as nervous as I did.

Raven made an impatient noise. “Let's get it over with already. How do you want to split it up?”

Again no one answered. Finally Hunter spoke up. “The way I see it, Mr. Warren's being kind enough to host us. Whatever we do shouldn't upset him.”