Eternal Magic (Magic for Hire #3)

Chapter 17

Maya had suffered from claustrophobia since Batu had locked her in a cramped closet for an entire week. At the time she’d been convinced she was going to suffocate alone in the dark. Ever since then, she’d hated the sensation of being confined. A heavy blanket would stir her anxiety. Or a hug that we nt on too long.

Lying tangled in Ravyr’s arms, she waited for the sense of panic to hit. Not only was she pressed tightly against his naked form, but also, he was holding her in a grip that warned he didn’t in tend to let go.

It should have made her crazy.

Instead, an unexpected peace had settled deep in her heart. As if she’d finally found the place where she truly belonged.

She heaved a small sigh, her hands smoothing up the curve of his back. Destiny obviously had a sen se of humor....

Lifting his head as if sensing her strange thoughts, Ravyr gazed down at her with a worr ied expression.

“Are you okay?”

Her lips twitched. Her entire body ached from their latest bout of lovemaking that had nearly shattered the bed frame. I t was glorious.

“I’m tougher than I look,” s he assured him.

He blinked, as if caught off guard by her response. “I wasn’t talking about physical injury, although I’d be horrified if I thought I hurt you.” The turquoise gaze swept down her body, clearly looking for bruises. Only when he looked convinced that her delicate skin was unblemished did he return his gaze to her face. “I meant are you okay with what happen ed between us?”

Her lips twisted into a wry smile. “I would think my screams of pleasure would assure you I was enjoying every moment.”

“A vampire can always hope.”

He brushed his lips over her brow, the touch exquisitely tender. At the same time, she felt his muscles clench, as if exp ecting a blow.

“What’s troubling you? ” she demanded.

“You.”

Her startled laugh echoed through the guest bedroom. She wasn’t sure the exact time that Ravyr had carried her from the main sitting room to this spot, but it had been between bouts of sweaty, min d-numbing sex.

“That’s not exactly what a woman wants to hear when she’s lying naked in your arms.”

“I’ve never had a mate before ,” he murmured.

“Ravyr.”

He lifted his head to gaze down at her with a brooding intensity. “I swear, I’m not asking anything of you. It’s ju st terrifying.”

She reached up to trace his bluntly carved features. He wasn’t handsome like most vampires. He had a savage, untamed beauty that had once upon a time reminded her of a lethal predator. But beneath that dangerous facade she’d discovered a male who possessed an unwavering loyalty that a woman could always trust.

Whether it was with her lif e or her heart.

“I’m terrifyin g?” she teased.

“It’s terrifying to care so deeply,” he clarified, his eyes darkening with an intense emotion. “If anything happ ened to you...”

Her fingers pressed against his lips, silencing his fear. “I defeated Batu once. I’ll do it again if I have to.”

He smoothed his hand down the curve of her spine, his cool touch sending goose bumps dancing over her skin. She shivered, silently admitting she was becoming addicted to the icy sensation.

“Your courage has always astonished me. Even when you were imprisoned in Batu’s lair you walked through the tunnels with your head held high. Like you were a queen surveyi ng her castle.”

“I wasn’t going to give Batu the satisfaction of seeing me beaten.” She didn’t add that she was even more queen-like whenever he happened to be visiting the lair. Her pride demanded that she disguise her vulnerability. “And I never doubted that one day I would escape. It was the only thing that kept me going.”

“So what keeps you going now?”

“My friends.” Her fingers skimmed down the line of his jaw. “The Witch’s Brew.”

“And?”

“Eventually I’ll discover another mage in need of training,” she said, acutely aware of how hollow the words sounded.

As if she was trying to convince herself that was the futu re she desired.

Ravyr’s expression remained brooding. “Will that bring you happiness?”

“I am happy.”

“What ab out fulfilled?”

She hesitated. She hadn’t lied when she said she was happy. Or at least, she was content. After years of abuse, she’d created a home, a business, and a sense of security that no one could take from her.

But fulfilled?

“Is anyone?” she challenged.

“I am,” he said without hesitation, his hands pressing her tight against his thickening cock. “Now. Having you in my arms completes me. It’s that simple. And that earth shattering.” His brow arched as her lips curved at his words. “Why ar e you smiling?”

“Earth shattering,” she explained. “That’s a perfect way to describe you.”

He appeared genuinely confused. “I appreciate the comparison, but it’s not very accurate.” He grimaced, obviously remembering his past. “I’ve spent my life in the shadows. Silent and invisible.”

“Never to me.” She traced the curve of his lips, feeling the sharp tips of his fangs. Another shiver raced through her. Those fangs had speared deep into her throat, drinking her blood and creating havoc in her body. The pleasure had been nothing less than sheer bliss and she honestly couldn’t wait to feed him again. And again. And again... “As much as I wanted to pretend I didn’t notice you... I couldn’t get you out of my mind,” she forced herse lf to continue.

“Good.” His eyes smoldered with a turquoise-and-silver fire as he easily caught the scent of her desire. “I intend to stay there. Just as I intend to sta y in your bed.”

“A bold claim.”

“You make me bold.” He parted his lips to reveal his lengthening fangs. “And hungry. Very , very hungry.”

Maya released her breath with a soft hiss as he lowered his head to scrape his fangs down the curve of her t hroat. Oh yes.

Maya.

The unwelcome voice whispered through the back of her mind. Maya screwed her eyes shut, trying to pretend she couldn’t hear it. Like she was a child hoping to avoid an u npleasant task.

Maya .

The voice was sharper, more insistent. A warning that she wasn’t going to be able to ignore the loo ming intrusion.

“Ravyr.” She pressed her hands against his chest. “Wait.”

He tilted back his head to study her with blatant concern. “Is so mething wrong?”

Very wrong , she sil ently groused.

Not only was her body on fire with the need to finish what Ravyr had started, but she wasn’t in the mood to shatter the illusion that they were safely hidden in a bubble that couldn’t be touched by the outside world.

Unfortunately, she knew the aggravating mage too well to hope she would take the hint and go away. And more importantly, there was a simmering impatience in the mental connection that suggested this was more than a social call.

“It’s Tia,” she told Ravyr . “She’s here.”

“In the penthouse?”

“In the lobby.”

His muscles clenched as he prepared to leap off the bed. “I’ll g et rid of her.”

“No.” Maya grasped his shoulders, keeping him in place. “I think she’s here because she has information. I need to s peak with her.”

Ravyr’s features tightened, but he didn’t argue. Instead he brushed a light kiss over her mouth.

“ We need to speak with her,” he ge ntly corrected.

“We need to speak with her,” she agreed, her lips instinctively parting in invitation.

Ravyr groaned, his hand moving to cup her breast as he buried his face in her tangled hair. “Can it be later? Next year?” His thumb stroked her nipple to a hard peak of need. “Next decade?”

Maya shivered, battling against the urge to give into temptation. As much as she wanted to pretend that they were safe from the world, she knew deep in her heart it would be a mistake to waste time. The sooner they located the danger hunting her, the sooner they coul d eliminate it.

After that...

Well, she had high hopes f or the future.

“It feels urgent,” she warned as Tia’s voice once again echoed thro ugh her brain.

“Right.” Ravyr’s expression was hard with frustration, but his touch was gentle as he placed a last lingering kiss on her lips. Then, with one smooth motion, he shoved himself off the bed to head toward the door. “I’ll hav e her sent up.”

Heaving a sigh, Maya climbed off the mattress and headed to the attached bathroom. She wasn’t going to face her old friend looking like she’d spent the night in the gutter.

After a quick shower, she pulled on a pair of cream slacks and a navy-blue sweater that she’d packed in a suitcase before leaving the Witch’s Brew and brushed her damp hair until it was silky smooth. Studying herself in the steamy mirror, she arranged her features into an expression of aloof composure. This was the Maya Rosen she shared with the world.

Exiting the guest suite, Maya entered the public salon just as the heavy shutters slid up. She glanced in surprise at the large windows that offered a stunning view of the New York skyline. It was night? She hadn’t realized it was so late.

Clearly the old saying was true. Time really did fly when she was having fun.

With a shake of her head, Maya turned toward the silver-haired mage standing in the cente r of the room.

“Tia, ” she murmured.

The older woman pressed her lips together, peering down her slender nose in blatant disapproval. She was wearing a black pair of slacks and matching turtleneck with comfortable shoes. Maya had never seen her onetime friend in such sens ible clothing.

“A vampire, Maya. Really?” Tia clicked her tongue. “I thought you of all women had better taste.”

Maya smiled. There was nothing Tia could say to make her regret her nig ht with Ravyr.

“Ravyr is different.”

“He’s a cold-blooded leech. Same as the others.”

Maya strolled forward, her smile fading. This female didn’t have the right to criticize anyone. Especi ally not Ravyr.

“He’s the male who was there when I needed him the most,” she reminded the woman. “He saved my life.”

Tia stilled, her expression suddenly wry. “Ah. He tol d you, did he?”

“No. I had a vision of being carried from Batu’s lair.” She deliberately paus ed. “By Ravyr.”

Tia tilted her chin as if daring Maya to demand an apology. “Only after the bastard was dead. Why didn’t your hero do something when Batu was tormenting us?”

Maya waved aside the accusation. She’d made her peace with Ravyr’s loyalty to his people. Back then, he was focused on his duty to Sinjon, not on rescuing a mage he barely knew.

“The question I’m more interested in is why y ou lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie,” Tia countered with a shrug. “You assumed I pulled you out of the lair and I didn’t bother t o correct you.”

“Oh no. You’re not blaming me for this. A lie is a lie.”

“You should have asked m ore questions.”

Maya ground her teeth. Tia was stubborn, but so was she. She deser ved an answer.

“Why didn’t you just tell me what happened?”

Tia made a sound of impatience. “You know why, Maya. It suited my purpose to let you think you we re in my debt.”

There it was.

Tia needed something from her, and she had been willing to do whatever necessary to get w hat she wanted.

“You didn’t need to manipulate me for that.” A surprising sadness tugged at Maya’s heart. She’d lost her best friend when she’d walked out of that mountain hut. It’d left a hole inside her that had never been filled. “I never forgot you were the one to protect me when I first came to Batu’s lair. And that it was your training that gave me the power to st and on my own.”

“And to walk away from me ,” Tia snapped.

“We wanted different things f or our future.”

Tia’s expression hardened with disdain. “Together we could have ruled the world. Instead you wasted your life pandering to the leeches and serving humans like you w ere a peasant.”

“No, I devoted my life to creating a home and then filling it with a family,” Maya argued. “And I wouldn’t c hange a thing.”

Tia’s expression could have cut glass, but before she could continue her tirade on Maya’s lack of ambition, a cool breeze swept through the room as Ravyr appeared in th e open doorway.

Maya’s breath locked in her lungs at the sight of the worn jeans and black T-shirt that clung to his hard body, and the glint of silver-blond hair that had been shaved close to his head. In the muted light, his eyes glowed like polished turquoise. It’s ridiculous, she silently acknowledged. They’d spent enough time together that she shouldn’t need to brace herself for the impact of his glorious beauty, but it smashed into her like a freight train each time he entered a room.

“Did I miss something?” he murmured, his gaze locked on Tia as he moved to stan d next to Maya.

“Our conversation is private and none of your business,” the olde r mage snapped.

“How did you know we were here?” Ravyr demanded, his to ne suspicious.

“Seriously? Everyone in the city knows the two of you are staying here,” Tia said with a sneer. “It’s the chatter of th e demon world.”

Ravyr folded his arms over his chest. “I doubt that.”

“Check out the social media.”

Maya grimaced. She didn’t doubt Tia’s claim. Demons were weirdly obsessed with vampires, treating them with the same awe and obsessive fascination that humans reserved for celebrities. No doubt because their social hierarchy could be drastically improved by an intimate relationship with a member of the Cabal. If she’d been spotted coming into Valen’s lair with a mysterious vampire, the gossip would be spreading like wildfire th rough the city.

Unfortunate, but at the bottom of her current li st of worries.

“Why are you here, Tia? ” she demanded.

Tia arched a brow at her blunt tone. “Unlike some, I haven’t been wasting my time,” the older woman drawled.

Ravyr reached to brush his fingers over Maya’s cheek. “I assure you our time wasn’t wasted.”

“Oh please—”

Maya interrupted the brewing argument. “Just tell me why you’ re here, Tia.”

Tia sent Ravyr a jaundiced glare before turning her attention to Maya. “I fo und your mage.”

It took a second for Maya to grasp who she m eant. “Alison?”

Tia shrugged. “If she’s the one you claimed shoved you in to the mirror.”

“Where is she?”

Tia held up a slender hand. “Let me clarify. I know the location where she was meeting wit h her friends.”

Maya refused to be disappointed. All she needed was a place to start, and she would be able to track down the bitch.

“Where?”

“A private island owned by Lord Omar Burrell.”

Maya blinked. That was the last place she would have looked for the missing mage. “ Are you sure?”

“Who is Omar Burrell ?” Ravyr asked.

“One of the most powerful demons in the city,” Maya said, her tone distracted. “But he’s never been involved in politics or the squabble between clans. In fact, he goes out of his way to avoid being drawn into any disputes.”

“I don’t think he’s involved now,” Tia retorted. “At least not willingly. The cult simply chose his island as a conven ient location.”

Maya absently nodded. That made more sense. She’d never been invited to the private island, but she’d heard that it was isolated with heavily wooded areas that would be a perfect location to avoid unwanted attention from th e local Cabal.

“What makes you think Al ison is there?”

“Last night my servant located a male fairy who claimed that he’d been lured from a local rave with the promise of dragon scale and taken to the island.”

“How did they get there?” Maya demanded. “It’s strict ly off limits.”

“He claims he was taken by bus to Long Island and then ferried over to the island.”

“That takes organization,” Maya murmured, more than a little troubled by the realization this was more than a mage and couple of demons floundering around trying to kill her. “What else di d he tell you?”

“Once he got there, the fairy caught sight of several robed forms standing around a fire,” she shared in impatient tones. “He was smart enough to recognize that he wasn’t there for fun and games, and managed to slip away unnoticed. The others who went with them weren’t so lucky. He hasn’t seen them sin ce that night.”

“Robed forms?” A chill inched down Maya’s spine. “What we re they doing?”

“My sources claim that it’s a death cult,” Tia said. “And that they’ve been sacri ficing demons.”

The words did nothing to ease Maya’s sudden sense of dread. An organized group of robe-wearing creatures who were sacrificing demons. That couldn’t b e a good thing.

But she was suddenly distracted as she tried to imagine the smug, petulant Alison rubbing elbows with th e strange cult.

“Wait. Why would a mage be interested in a cult that uses demon sacrifice? Only witches can use blood to create dark ma gic. Unless...”

The words died on Maya’s lips as she abruptly recalled her early years living in a remote village. There had been a few magic users who had traveled through the area. Most claimed to be healers, or fortune tellers, or mystics. And a few had the talent to perform minor spells. But it was the witches who promised they could channel a long-departed spirit, or even raise the recently dead, who’d attracted the m ost attention.

“Unless what?” Ravyr fi nally prompted.

“Unless she’s a necromancer.”

There was a short silence before Tia clicked her tongue in disgust. “Seriously, Maya. Necromancers are a myth. Like elves an d leprechauns.”

“Some believe,” Maya stubbornly insisted. “And they’re willing to try anything, including slaughtering innocents to prove they can return the dead from the grave. A group of them gathered like vultures after the floods swept through our village. It was horrifying what some of my neighbors were willing to offer in exchange of returning a child or parent.” Maya tilted her chin. “We need to get t o that island.”

“There’s no poin t,” Tia warned.

Maya ground her teeth. Tia was always arrogant and bossy and annoying. Tonight she was taking all three to a w hole new level.

“Why not?” Maya forced herself to ask.

“This morning I went out there to sea rch the place.”

“Let me guess. T hey were gone.”

“Every trace of them. The ground had even been salted so I couldn’ t follow them.”

Maya grimaced. There was only one reason for a mage to salt the ground. It was to make sure her presence couldn’t be detected by another mage.

“Alison must have warned them that we’d discovered her identity.”

“Yes.” Tia’s gaze was accusing. As if she blamed Maya for allowing the cult to escape. “A shame you didn’t capture her when you h ad the chance.”

Maya turned toward Ravyr. Tia couldn’t make her feel worse than she already did. She was acutely aware that she’d allowed herself to be outmaneuvered by an inferior mage.

Twice .

The only way to settle the score was to find Alison and force her to confess why she was in New York and who was behind her attempts to kill Maya. As painfully as possible. But first she h ad to find her.

“What if they’ve fled the city?” she asked Ravyr, revealing her greatest fear. If Alison disappeared now, they’d have no way of following her.

Ravyr grasped her hands, giving her fingers a comforting squeeze. “They haven’t.”

“How do you know?” Tia intruded into their conversation, her tone sharp.

Ravyr sent her an impatient frown. “Because I was sent to Batu’s lair to investigate a strange pulse of magic. That same magic has reappeared on several occasions over the past four decades, moving from Gyre to Gyre. Curren tly it’s here.”

Tia snorted. “There was a lot of magic in his lair. Most of it t aken by force.”

Ravyr shook his head. “This was different. I’ve never felt any thing like it.”

Tia didn’t look satisfied with the answer. Shocker. “If it’s magic, I would be able to sense it,” she stubb ornly insisted.

For once, Maya didn’t blame Tia for her suspicion. Magic flowed through the veins of a mage. How was it possible that both of them had been impervious to the strange pulse that Ra vyr had sensed?

Unless...

“Not if it was necromancer magic,” Maya abruptly pointed out. “A vampire would be more likely to sense anything connect ed with death.”

“I’m resurrected, not dead,” Ravyr teased, his brows arching as he lifted her hand to press her fingers against his lips. “Obviously I’m going to have to up my game.”

A blush crept beneath her skin, but she refused to be distracted.

“You’ve been to the afterlife,” she explained. “A place between l ife and death.”

He shrugged. “More than onc e, presumably.”

“Maybe that’s why you can feel it and we can’t.”

“Necromancer magic.” The words were soft, as if he was testing them to decide if she was on the right track or if she’d gone off the rails.

Tia had already made up her mind. “Stop it,” she snapped. “There’s no such thing.”

Maya made a sound of impatience. “I’m not saying there is. But it doesn’t have to be real for people to believe in it. If they’re creating a spell out of the blood of their sacrifices to try to raise the dead, it could release more than one sort of evil.”

Tia pinched her lips together, abruptly marching toward the nearby door. “Believe what you want.”

Maya frowned. “Where are you going?”

“The fairy was too drunk to give much information about the cult before they disappeared from the island,” Tia revealed. “I’m going to see if he’s managed to clear enough of the grog-fog from his brain to answer my questions.” She paused, raking Maya with a dismissive glance. “Such a d isappointment.”

With a toss of her head, the older woman completed her dramatic exit, disappear ing from view.

“Ditto,” Maya muttered, aggravated that her ex-friend always managed to have the last word.

“Grog-fog?” Ravyr interrupted her dark thoughts, repeating Tia’s w ords. “Poetic.”

Maya shook off her annoyance. Tia was the least of her worries. “She always was a drama queen.”

“While you are calm, cool, and collected,” Ravyr murmured.

“Not always,” she a dmitted wryly.

“True.” Tugging her forward, Ravyr lowered his head to brush a kiss over her lips. “I like you when you’re ruffled. And disheveled.” Another lingeri ng kiss. “And—”

“Is the chauffeur on duty?” Maya forced herself to interrupt. One more kiss and she’d be shoving him onto the nearby sofa and stripping o ff his clothes.

Not that she was opposed to the idea of a naked Ravyr sprawled beneath her. In fact, her mouth went dry and her heart raced at the mere thought. But she couldn’t let herself be sidetracked.

Alison was still in the city. For now. She couldn’t risk allowing her to escape.

“Unfortunately,” he murmured against her lips. “Where are we going?”

“Th e Dead Badger.”

Ravyr lifted his head, his expression resigned. “Of course we are.”