Chapter 5
Maya sucked in a deep breath as Ravyr rolled off her with a low groan. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his efforts to block the worst of the shrapnel, but he weighed a ton. He was squishing all the air from her lungs.
Then, Ravyr flowed gracefully to his feet, revealing the savage wounds beneath his shredded T-shirt, and she forgot her lack of oxygen. Damn. It looked as if he’d been in a fight with a woodchipper. And the woodc hipper had won.
If he hadn’t shielded her...
She’d be dead. As simple as that.
Grimacing, Maya pushed herself upright, her gaze landing on the decimated house. The explosion hadn’t been as powerful as the one that had destroyed the Slaughterhouse, but it had been big enough to kill her and severely wound Ravyr. Had that been the purpose? Or was the killer covering their tracks and they’d been an added bonus?
“Was the bo mb on a timer?”
Maya jerked her attention away from the shattered house to meet Ravyr’s hard gaze. It took her a second to grasp why he was asking her anything about the mysterious explosion. She’d been the one to warn him to get ou t of the house.
She shook her head. It had been the whispered warning of her mysterious Benefactor who’d urged her to run, but she’d sensed the danger had been approaching from the shadows, not alread y in the house.
“No.”
The dark eyes flared with brutal satisfaction. “Then whoever set it off is stil l in the area.”
Maya’s smile was equally brutal as she pointed toward the north. “Yo u go that way.”
His jaw tightened, almost as if he wanted to protest. “Whoever did this is willing to kill without hesitation,” he finally rasped, as if she hadn’t noticed the buildings that kept explod ing around her.
“So am I,” she said in cold tones.
With a sharp nod he turned to melt into the shadows, the chill in the air warning that he intended to do very bad things to whoever had tried to kill him. Maya frowned. She was in the mood to make her tormentor pay. In blood. But first they needed information. Something they couldn’t get if the cul prit was dead.
Trusting that Ravyr would have enough sense to ask questions before ripping off any heads, Maya moved toward the back of the house. Squatting down, she reached her hand into the heavy satchel she’d filled with potions before going in search of Courtney. She wasn’t surprised to discover they were undamaged. She’d placed a protective spell on the glass vials before pouring in the potions. Some of them were too dangerous to risk being acciden tally released.
Crouching a few feet from the smoldering embers that had once been the kitchen, Maya slowly poured one of the potions onto the grass. She could cast a spell to trace the various footsteps that had recently crossed the lawn, but she was still recovering from the drain on her powers the previous evening. She wanted to save her magic for the very real possibility she would need it to p rotect herself.
The thick liquid pooled at her feet, bubbling and hissing as the magic was activated. Maya whispered a word of power, sending the liquid spreading over the grass. Seconds later the outline of various footsteps shimmered with different colors. Red for goblin. Green for fey. Silver for vampires. And gold for mages. She didn’t bother to tra ck the humans.
Leaning back on her heels, Maya studied the various footprints as the magic slowly settled to a dull pulse. The darker the outline, the more recent the person had p assed through.
“There,” she muttered, easily picking out the deep crimson tracks that had approached the house from a nearby alley.
Straightening, Maya followed the prints that had retraced their path back down the alley. She paused next to a line of trash cans, ignoring the stench as she carefully scanned he r surroundings.
If the demon was truly trying to kill her, it might be smart enough to realize she would be in pursuit if she managed to survive the initial blast. This would be the perfect pla ce for a trap.
Counting to one hundred, Maya grimaced at the sound of opening doors as the neighbors came out of their houses. They remained on their porches for now, no doubt worried that there might be more explosions, but soon the local authorities would arrive with their flashing lights and loud sirens and the gawkers would be unable to resist the lure of watching them up close and personal as they went about their business.
Maya inched forward, her gaze locked on the footprints that headed down the sidewalk. They continued to the corner, but then they abruptl y disappeared.
Frustration speared through her at the same time she felt an ic y blast of air.
Ravyr.
“Anything?” he whispered n ext to her ear.
She pointed toward the corner. “He got into a vehicle an d disappeared.”
“Damn. I don’t have the talent to track him.” Ravyr pulled out his phone and typed in a quick message.
Was he checking in with Valen? Or did he report directly to Sinjon, the big cheese of the Cabal? Maya abruptly turned on her heel and marched back down the alley. Why would she care who he was contacting? He was nothing to her. Not unless you counted him being a gigantic p ain in the ass.
Okay, he’d saved her from a nasty explosion. Twice. But it was possible that the bomber wouldn’t have targeted the Slaughterhouse or Courtney’s house if Ravyr hadn’ t been inside.
Her attempt to deflect the blame to Ravyr faltered as she skirted past the house, which was lying in shattered ruins. No. The aggravating leech might be included in whoever or whatever was hunting her, but she sensed she was the primary target.
Ravyr easily kept pace next to her, standing close enough for her to feel the thunderous power that pulsed around him. It was a physical force that pressed against her. Not a threat. More of a promise that he was there to protect her.
Which was m ore terrifying.
She’d labeled Ravyr as the enemy. She wasn’t ready to accept that he could be anything else. Even if he was the sexiest, most deliciou sly gorgeous...
“Where a re you going?”
Thankful to have her treacherous thoughts interrupted, Maya stiffened her back and picked up her pace. The sound of sirens was echoing through the night air. She wanted to be far away from the house before they arrived and started as king questions.
“Home.”
“Good.”
He continued to walk next to her, seeming oblivious to the lingering stares from the neighbors who were beginning to creep their way toward the noxious smoke that belched from the s hattered house.
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be? ” she snapped.
“The only place I have to be is wher e you lead me.”
His soft words brushed over her like a caress and Maya’s heart slammed aga inst her ribs.
“Not even in your dreams,” she muttered, power walking with a new purpose.
She was cold and tired and her entire body ached. She needed some alone time to gather her composure.
Of course the aggravating male refused to take the hint. “You w ere, you know.”
“I was what?”
“In my dreams.”
Maya stumbled. Was he flirting with her? She tilted back her head, her breath catching in her throat. His savage beauty slammed into her, knocking her off balance. Each perfectly carved feature, the eyes that glowed with a luminous turquoise fire, the silver rims shimmering in the moonlight, and the powerful body that moved with a liquid grace.
For one breathless moment she recalled the first time she’d seen this male. Batu had forced her to attend his nightly entertainment, insisting that he wanted her close to his side as he welcomed an ambassador from the leader of the Cabal. It wasn’t that he valued her presence, but he enjoyed exhibiting his collection of rare artifacts, along with his most powerful slaves. The vampire version of show-and-tell.
She’d been late and hurrying to the throne room when she’d slammed into Ravyr as he’d stepped out of a side tunnel. He’d wrapped his arms around her before she could bounce off his hard body, keeping her upright with a gentle hug. Fear had blasted through Maya, her muscles clenching as she prepared for him to punish her. It was a routine event since she’d been captured by Batu. Any leech in the lair was welcome to beat her senseless, as long as she wasn’t permanently damaged. But instead of a vicious blow, Ravyr had asked if she was hurt, genuine concern in his voice.
She’d tilted back her head, just as she was doing now, and the world had spun away, leaving her floating on a giddy wav e of awareness.
It wasn’t just that he was gorgeous. Or that she was shivering with longing as he pressed her close to his hard muscles. It was a gut-deep recognition that this male was special. That her life would never be the same now that she’d be en in his arms.
But that breathless fantasy had been shattered the moment Batu had strolled into the tunnel and Ravyr had shoved her away as if she were infected w ith the plague.
The rejection had left a wound that she abruptly realized had neve r fully healed.
And the realization pissed her off.
Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, she turned to face him, her fists plant ed on her hips.
“When was I in your dreams?” she snapped. “When my magic was being drained from my body? Or when I was being paraded before Batu’s gathered guests like a prized heifer?” She narrowed her eyes. “Or maybe when I was locked in a cell without food or water for endless days?”
Ravyr grimace d. “I’m sorry.”
A tense silence filled the air between them. A combination of anger and regret and missed opportunity. The turquoise eyes darkened, as if offering a promise for a different future, but Maya was spinning away to march d own the street.
“It’s in the past.” She tried to ignore him as he trailed behind her. A wasted effort, of course. How did you ignore a six-foot-five vampire who made the earth shake with his power? And worse, her ankle was beginning to throb. She’d taken a healing potion that morning, but it was starting to wear off. The dull ache was becoming a sharp jab with each step. At last she sent a glare over her shoulder. “Stop following me.”
“You have our only clue.” His expression was unreadable as he held out his hand. “Give it over and I’ll go away.”
“Clue?” Her brows snapped togethe r. “What clue?”
“The mage’s phone.”
Maya ground her teeth. He’d noticed her slipping it into her satchel? Damn.
“No way.” She continued down the street, but at a slower pace. It was taking all her effort not to limp. “Fi nders keepers.”
“Finders keepers?” He sounded genu inely confused.
“It’s mine.”
“Then we stay together.”
“You’r e not invited.”
Moving too fast for her to track, Ravyr was abruptly standing directly in front of her, forci ng her to stop.
“I have a car.”
She turned to watch the large black SUV as it swerved to a halt next to the curb, the windows tinted and the engine purring with power. That’s why he was texting earlier, she silently realized. He’d been arranging transportation.
A stubborn part of her wanted to ignore his offer. She wasn’t Cinderella to be tempted by a carriage ride to the ball. But a more logical part of her brain reminded her that her ankle was throbbing, the sidewalk would soon be crowded with humans flocking toward the sound of sirens, and the sooner she could get home, the sooner she could figure out what secrets Courtney ha d on her phone.
“Argh.”
With a toss of her head she marched toward the SUV, prepared when the back door opened to allow her to slide onto the buttery leather seats. The vehicle was identical to the one Peri used when she visited Maya.
A pang tugged at Maya’s heart.
When her friend first mated with the Cabal leader of New York, she’d been determined to continue her work at the Witch’s Brew. She was far too independent to wait around on Valen to keep her entertained. But as the weeks and then months passed, she’d naturally developed her own interests. Plus the rigorous, time-consuming training she endured in an effort to control her wild magic.
Ravyr slid in beside her, claiming more than his fair share of space and splintering her wistful musings. As soon as he closed his door the SUV melted into the thickening traffic before turning a corner and heading straight for her shop. Less than ten minutes later it was parked in front of the brightly painted window with the blink ing neon sign.
In silence they climbed out and headed toward the door. Maya instinctively glanced around, making sure they hadn’t been followed, before gripping the door handle to break the spell that guarded the lock. The magic would have alerted her if anyone had tried to enter the building.
Once convinced it was safe, Maya pushed open the door and led Ravyr inside before she flicked on the overhead lights. A soft glow spilled over the white tiles and reflected off the stainless steel coolers.
Ravyr wandered toward the middle of the floor, his brows arching as he took in the open shelves loaded with delicate china plates and matching cups along with hand-embroidered napkins. He continued turning to study the festive tulips and daffodils painted on the front window along with a bunny rabbit holding an Easter basket.
“This isn’t what I was expecting,” he at last murmured.
Maya’s mouth was dry. This had always been her safe space. A place that was untainted by her past. Allowing Ravyr to enter chan ged everything.
With an effort, she forced away the unnerving thought and closed the door, not bothering to lock it. If anyone was ballsy enough to attack a powerful mage and vampire, no lock was going to stop them.
“What did you expect?” she demanded, trying to pretend that his presence in her shop wasn’t scraping against her raw nerves.
“More fire and brimstone and less caramel latte w ith sprinkles.”
“Caramel latte with sprinkles pays the bills,” she said. “Along with a do llop of magic.”
He turned back to face her. “You were alw ays so fierce.”
“Not by choice.” She crossed into the attached bookstore. “My offic e is this way.”
She led him past the bookshelves and into the room at the back, dropping her satchel on the desk before turning to watch him enter. He took a quick glance around, giving an absent nod as if he wasn’t surprised by the barren space. He had to know that no mage would meet with potential clients or enemies in a place that wasn’t stripped of pot ential weapons.
Maya leaned against the desk, asking the question that had been nibbling at the edge of her mind since the demon who tried to kill them h ad disappeared.
“You said that tracking wasn’t your talent,” she reminded him. “What is?”
He arched a brow. “Would yo u like a list?”
“I’d like the truth.” She deliberately paus ed. “For once.”
Amusement shimmered in his eyes at her less than subtle prod. “My talent is the ability to absorb magic.”
Maya had suspected he could manipulate magic. She’d seen him open treasure boxes that were coated in protective hexes when he thought no one was watching. But absorbing it...that was unexpected.
“Does that mean you’re impervious to spell s and potions?”
“Not completely, but I can dispel mos t minor magic.”
Maya studied him with genuine curiosity. “What happens to the magic after you absorb it?”
“It disappears.” He paused before grimac ing. “Usually.”
“Not always?”
“Not always.” His tone was clipped, as if he didn’t want to discuss the times the magic hadn’t vanished. “Now it’s my turn.”
“Quid pro quo?”
“Exactly.” He folded his arms over his chest. He looked like a male determined to get answers. “How did you know that the house was abo ut to explode?”
Maya flinched. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. “ I could smell—”
“No,” he interrupted.
She struggled for a plausible lie. “I sens ed the danger.”
“How?”
“I’m a mage.”
“A very powerful one, but your senses can’t compete with mine. How did you know?”
Maya hissed out a sigh. He wasn’t going to let this go. Not without some sort of explanation.
“I occasionally have assistance from my Benefactor.”
He studied her, as if waiting for her to elaborate. “A partner?” he finally asked.
“Not a traditional partner. More of a fairy godfather.” She wrinkled her nose, abruptly recalling the last time the voice had demanded she sneak into a demon’s nest where she’d nearly died before jumping out of a second-story window and landing on her head. Not very fairy-godfather-like. “No, not that,” she conceded. “Honestly, I’m not sure what he is. I began to feel his presence when I first arri ved in Jersey.”
“What do you mea n by presence?”
“It’s hard to explain.” She instinctively wrapped her arms around her waist. Just mentioning the Benefactor was enough to heighten the sense of her constant companion. “It started with a suspicion that I wasn’t alone in a room. Just a feeling of being watched. Then it began to whisper in my mind. Honestly, I thought I might be hallucinating. Then I convinced myself it was some s ort of spirit.”
“ But it wasn’t?”
“No.” Maya didn’t question that the creature was real. “It’s far too powerful.”
Ravyr’s confusion appeared to transform into suspicion as he glanced around the office, as if seekin g the creature.
“What does the Benefactor do?”
“He provides a layer of protection to me, as well as my business.” Maya tilted her chin, feeling oddly defensive as his brows furrowed. “It means I can remain independent.” She didn’t have to explain what she meant by independence. They both knew she was speaking of the Cabal. “Something I deeply value.”
He narrowed his gaze, but he didn’t chide her for her refusal to bend the knee t o the vampires.
“I th ink I felt it.”
She blinked in su rprise. “When?”
“Last night on the roof. Just before you did your swan dive over the edge of the building.”
On cue Maya’s ankle twinged with pain. “Hardly a swan dive,” she said dryly. “And I can’t believe you sensed him. No one else ever has, even Peri and Skye who lived with me for years.”
Ravyr shrugged. “If he’s attached to you in some way, perhaps I absorbed a portion of his magic.”
“I suppose,” Maya murmured.
“There must be a cost to his protection,” Ravyr pointed out, obviously more interested in what the Benefactor wanted than his identity. “Th ere always is.”
“I’m requested to do random tasks. Some are small and simple, others have been dangerous, and at times he tells me what I ca n or can’t do.”
“He tells you what you can do?” Ravyr arched a brow. “A nd you listen?”
She didn’t blame him for his surprise. “It pisses me off, but he’s prevented more than one nasty disaster. Like avoiding the explosion in Cou rtney’s house.”
“And he’s wh at? Invisible?”
Maya swallowed a sigh. It was remarkably difficult to articulate the precise nature of her Benefactor. Probably because she didn’t know what his prec ise nature was .
“He’s usually an aura that I feel rather than a physical form, but I’m beginning to suspect he’s closer than I ever realized,” she admitted, resisting the urge to glance over Ra vyr’s shoulder.
“The creature sounds dodgy.”
“So far he’s offered more than he’s demanded in return. If t hat changes...”
“What?”
Maya shivered. It was a question that had been on her mind more th an once lately.
“I’m not sure.” With an abrupt motion, Maya moved around the desk, taking a seat. Then, opening her satchel, she pulled out the phone she’d grabbed before the house exploded. “Let’s see who Courtney was chatting with.”
Ravyr crossed toward the desk. “I assum e it’s locked?”
“Yes.”
“Valen no doubt has someone who can break through her passcode.”
“No need. I’ve go t a shortcut.”
Maya leaned to the side and breathed a spell of protection before she tugged on the handle of the bottom drawer. She kept the more lethal potions, spell books, and magical artifacts in her vault. But there were a few dangerous objects that she kept on hand in case of an emergency. She dealt with pissed-off demons on a regular basis. It would be stupid not to have backup.
But beyond the expected curses, hexes, and loaded Glock, she kept a few items that weren’t particularly dangerous, but she didn’t want them to fall into t he wrong hands.
It was the latter sort of potion that she pulled out, along with a small mirror, and placed on the desk i n front of her.
“What’s that?” Ravyr demanded.
“Watch.”
Maya closed her eyes, visualizing Courtney. The round face framed by the short blond hair. The wide blue eyes and pinched lips. Then, grabbing the potion, she wrenched out the cork and downed the liquid in one gulp. It flowed smoothly down her throat, tasting faintly of peppermint. The only potions that tasted bad were those she used as punishment, or a warning. Like healing potions for Peri and Skye after they’d done something stupid to get hurt. A weird tingle spread over her face and crawled over her scalp. It wasn’t painful, but it made her toes curl. A disguise potion was never pleasant. Once the tingles faded, she opened her eyes and grabbed the mirror to glance at her reflection. Courtney stared back at her. It wasn’t perfect. The eyes were too far apart, and the lips too thin, but it wa s close enough.
Maya grabbed the phone and held it up to her face; a beat later the lock sc reen vanished.
“Astonishing,” Ravyr muttered.
Maya concentrated on reversing the temporary illusion. “A simple potion.”
“I doubt it was simple.” He reached out to run a finger down her cheek. “But I pre fer this face.”
Maya struggled to keep her expression smooth as awareness scorched through her. How could his touch burn her skin when his han d was so cold?
“Thankfully I do too.” Maya grimly focused on plugging the phone into the computer. Once it was connected, she searched through the numerous a pps. “Got it.”