The Spell (19 page)

“Yeah,” Lily admitted before she could give it too much thought. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Daniel pondered her response for a moment and she could almost see the wheels spinning in his head. And then he nodded. “Okay then,” he said as he pushed himself up and gracefully stood beside the bed to peer down at her. As always, he looked edible in his mussed blue-black hair, his inhumanly perfect physique, and his pajama bottoms. He moved to his leather jacket where it lay over the back of a chair nearby and pulled his cell phone from its inside pocket before returning to the bed to hold it out for her. “Then what do you say we give the Healer a quick call?”

Lily looked at the phone and experienced a moment of relief. She released a breath and nodded. “Thanks,” she said, pushing herself into a sitting position. It was a definite improvement for Daniel to be aiding her in something involving Dannai or Charlie. He was really trying hard. And she was grateful for it.

She took the phone from him and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. The blue in his eyes lightened at her touch, sparking ever so slightly to life with werewolf magic. She smiled and brushed her thumb across the strong line of his jaw. Daniel instantly responded by cupping her face in his hands. He leaned in.

In the other room, William began to cry.

Before her, Lily could feel Daniel stiffen into stillness. For once however, Lily let the baby cry, ignoring him long enough to place a gentle kiss across her husband’s lips.

Chapter Twelve:
“The Dirty Trick”

Danny closed her phone and put it back on the kitchen table when it immediately began dancing on the table top with a second ring. She frowned and picked it back up again, flipping it open and placing it to her ear. “Hello?”

“I’m fine,” Danny assured her friend. “Why? What happened?” She immediately thought of children trapped in dank garages or women huddled on the corners of dirty mattresses, and Danny’s blood began to pump furiously through her veins.

“Nothing,” Lily quickly replied. “It’s just that…. Wait, why did Charlie call you?”

Danny blinked. Lily wasn’t going to let her change the subject. “Lucas Caige called Malcolm Cole – and Cole spoke with Charlie. And Charlie called me.”

There was a generous pause while Lily no doubt ran this through her head again. “Lucas Caige is the alpha who used to work for Cole. Right?”

“Danny, what’s going on? I’m coming to see you – ” The line clicked and Lily’s voice cut out for a second. Then she said, “Charlie’s on the other line.”

“I know,” Danny said, trying not to smile. “She’s on her way here too.”

*****

It was a few short minutes before both Charlie and Lily flashed into the living room of Danny’s house. Charlie was with Imani, who had transported to her location in order to bring her back. The marks that represented the curse on the inside of Charlie’s wrists would transport her to the scene of a soon-to-be murder, but it was useless if Charlie wanted to get somewhere innocent, so she’d needed Imani’s help in this case.

Now the four of them pulled out chairs around the kitchen table as they hugged and greeted one another. Danny had hot water boiling for tea; it was a cooler Fall day and the fog had rolled in thick. Flames crackled merrily in the fire place and cookies had been set out. This may be a strange and frightening situation for Danny, but there was no reason she couldn’t be a good host. In fact, cookies could only help.

The four friends talked for an hour or so as the morning wore on and sky grew darker with impending storm. Normally, fog would burn off in the afternoon, but there was a strangeness to the air now. Something was brewing.

“So, you’re a marked mate,” Charlie said, failing to hide her smile as she raised her brows and gestured to the tattoo on the inside of Danny’s arm. “And with Lucas Caige, of all people.” She shook her head, whistling low. “Girl, you’re in over your head,” she chuckled.

“Tell me about it,” Danny moaned. Caige was a lit match and a rogue; it would be hard to find a more dangerous alpha, though Charlie’s mate was one of the few who qualified. But it wasn’t Caige that was bothering her. It wasn’t him
specifically
. In fact, every time she thought of him, her body betrayed her in its reaction, even while her mind told her he was a mistake because he hated magic.

She still wanted him, despite everything. What really bothered her was the fact that she was just as cursed as Charlie. She was marked now – and she could never follow through with the rest of the mating. If she did, she would lose what remained of her magic. Danny was sure there were worse and less fair atrocities taking place in the world at that moment somewhere, but she couldn’t personally give them heed. She felt like the world had crapped on her.

“Okay,” Lily said, her voice the sound of reason in the room. She was used to taking charge like that, Danny reasoned. It was the social worker in her. “So, just to get this all straight again, let me review. Lalura has always told you that mating with a wolf would make your powers go away – ”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure about that,” Imani interrupted, reiterating what she had already told them about her suspicions where Jason was concerned. “I think Alberich was feeding her that story.”

“Obviously not a story, Ima,” Danny said, sighing. “I’m weaker than I’ve ever been.”

“But you didn’t sleep with a wolf, Danny,” Imani said, her tone one of placation. “Did you? No. You just got marked by one. I think it’s sort of strange that you’re already losing your powers. You don’t think it’s a little odd?” Imani turned to the other two girls at the table.

Charlie shrugged. “You know, Imani has a point. I remember that when Cole marked me, I was pissed, that’s for sure. And he had Caige’s help too – I owe him one,” she said. “But I also felt stronger and faster and more powerful than I ever had before. Not to mention more….” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged again, blushing.

“Horny?” Lily filled in, grinning widely.

Charlie nudged her with her elbow and chuckled. “Yeah, that.” She turned back to Danny. “So it does seem kind of strange that you would grow weaker instead of stronger.”

“It’s not strange if it’s the first step in me losing my powers,” Danny said. “It could be the half-way point. A warning.”

There was a silence around the table as they all seemed to consider this again. And then Lily spoke up once more. She addressed Imani. “Ima, tell me about your herald. You said you think he had something to do with the warning Lalura gave to Danny?”

“Yeah,” Ima nodded. “I wouldn’t put it past him for a second. He’s a good herald as far as taking care of the coven is concerned and he’s definitely powerful. There’s no denying that. But he’s had power since he was a child and I think he knows how to abuse it.” She shot a glance toward Danny. “And he’s had it bad for Danny for ten years.”

Danny rolled her eyes. “So he has a crush on me. That doesn’t mean he’s turned evil.”

Imani made a derisive sound. “Honey, that aint no crush. That’s a full on obsession. I can’t believe you don’t realize it.”

“Obsession?” Charlie and Lily asked at the same time. They’d both dealt with men who had been obsessed with them, and the looks on their faces were enough to relay that they didn’t like the idea.

“Okay, he’s not as obsessed with her as Phelan is with you, Charlie,” Imani admitted quickly. There was no man alive who was obsessed with any one woman the way Gabriel Phelan was with Charlie. That right there was one scary-ass fixation. The infamous werewolf was bent on Charlie’s domination and would settle at nothing less than complete enslavement of a woman who had already been mated to the man she loved, Malcolm Cole.

Charlie nodded, her face having gone a tad paler than before at the mention of Phelan’s name.

Imani went on, however, obviously determined to make her point clear. “But he’s obsessed all the same. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” she said, turning to Danny again. “That man’s got it bad, girl. And the way he was holding you when he brought you home? And the shields he put all over the house?”

“What kinds of shields?” Lily asked.

“Protective shields – mostly against alpha werewolves. But there were other spells he used that I didn’t recognize. It was like he knew someone would be coming for her.”

“Caige?” Charlie asked.

“Probably.” Ima shrugged.

“Okay, okay,” Danny finally said, holding her hands up in defeat. “So he has a thing for me. I know. I can tell too. But that doesn’t change the fact that he was right. Something is happening to me. I can’t control my magic and it started with this mark. How do you explain that?”

There was another pregnant pause around the table, punctuated by the distant sound of rolling thunder. Finally, Lily leaned forward, placing her arms on the table and lacing her fingers together. Her gold eyes speared Danny with an intelligent, inquisitive look. “Tell me what Jason Alberich looks like.”

Danny took a deep breath. Jason Alberich was a very handsome man; there was no denying that when she really thought about it. It was just that she’d known him for so long and he’d always just been either a childhood playmate or the herald’s son or the herald himself. He’d felt both out of her league and too much of a friend to be thought of as anything more.

“He’s tall,” she said. “He has light wavy blonde hair and green eyes.” She paused here and glanced at Charlie. “A lot like Cole’s eyes, actually.”

Charlie raised a brow, then nodded. Malcolm Cole had very stark eyes.

Danny looked down at the table top and went on. “He’s buff,” she said, feeling strange now that she was describing the man in detail. The more she pictured him, the more she realized how handsome he was. “Like perfectly built,” she said softly. “Strong chin, broad shoulders, wears black like all of the heralds do. He looks good in it.”

When she looked back up, it was to find all three women looking at her very closely. Imani’s expression was frankly worried. Lily’s expression was calculating. Charlie seemed to be somewhere in between the two.

“That’s the man from my dream,” Lily said, breaking the silence. “You were kissing him.”

“He’s put a spell on you,” Imani blurted, her gaze narrowed. “I swear to the goddess he has.”

“Oh, come on,” Danny said, rolling her eyes. But even as she denied the accusation, she realized that there was a niggling, tickling sensation at the back of her neck. It was like a Spidey sense. And it scared her. Not that she was about to let Imani see that.

“I’m dead serious, girl. You don’t think I’m serious? I would bet money on it.”

“Do you really think that your herald would do something like that?” Lily asked calmly. She was ever the in-control investigator, just trying to get the facts straight.

Imani shot her a serious look and gave her a hard nod. “Absolutely. I saw the way he glared at the mark on her arm.” She turned to Danny. “I still think that Jason is behind all of this somehow.”

“If so, then you’re a brave girl for saying as much out loud,” Lily nodded to Imani in respect.

That’s true,
Danny thought. For Imani’s sake, the witch had better hope she was wrong because a wizard of Jason’s caliber possessed the ability to scry on anyone at any time and if he really was behind Danny’s loss of power, then he wouldn’t be opposed to spying on them.

A hard chill went through Danny and the mark on her arm tingled threateningly. She glanced down at it. “I don’t know what to think,” she admitted softly.

“Okay,” Charlie said, leaning forward now to match Lily’s position. “Then I’ll tell you what I think.”

All three of the other girls turned toward her. She gave it a second before continuing, obviously straightening out her thoughts before giving them voice. “I think you’re a dormant who has been marked by a man who seems to care a great deal for you. He’s been nothing but good to you since you met him. Am I wrong?”

Danny thought of the things he’d said in the cave – when he’d told her he smelled magic. She tried to summon up the anger that had spiked through her at that time, but it wasn’t there any longer. And the truth was, she couldn’t really remember what it was about the words that had really pissed her off. He’d said he smelled magic, but what did that mean? Maybe he’d simply meant that he smelled someone else – some
thing
else – and that it set off alarm bells in his head because it meant they were no longer alone. If that was the case…. Could it have been Jason he’d scented?

She ran a hand over her face and shook her head. “I’m so confused.”

“I know,” Charlie said. “Let me finish.” Charlie took a deep breath and went on. “Like it or not, Danny, you’re stuck now. There are only two ways I know of to get a mark off of a dormant and neither one is worth considering. And even if you could, you would still be a dormant – you would have to wear your shield for the rest of your life or risk being bait to every werewolf you came across.” She paused here, allowing the meaning of her words to kick in. “So, whether it means a loss of your power or it’s actually your herald doing the damage, the outcome is the same. You have to take it to the next level. You have to let Caige do to you what you both want him to do.”

At these words, Danny blushed furiously, her stomach grew warm, and her body felt heavy. Her heart began to race as she pictured Lucas and the things she wanted him to do to her. She imagined that she smelled leather and aftershave and her throat grew tight as she recalled the dizziness that swept over her when he drew near. So close….

But then she saw a pair of green eyes. They cut through her reveries like jade ice, slicing through her images of Lucas and dissipating them like smoke.