Chapter 5
Sammy
It hadn’t actually been anything too impressive, me hearing them talk about babies, though I’d never tell Blaze that.
I’d just popped into the living room to bring Skye a brew I’d made for her monthly cramps and overheard them talking.
The guest room was just at the top of the stairs.
I hadn’t even needed special hearing for it.
I’d just arrived and nobody in the house even knew I was there. If Blaze had heard me, no doubt he wouldn’t have asked that particular question.
Skye came out of the kitchen with little Jason in her arms. I waved my hand and put up a quick ward so Blaze wouldn’t know I was here. “Hey, Sammy,” she said brightly. “What brings you here?”
I handed her the bottle with the elixir. “For your cramps.”
She sighed in relief. “One dropperful?”
“Yeah, any more will make you sleepy.” I looked toward the stairs. The conversation up there had stalled. “I need to tell Anthony something.”
Just then, I heard Star laughing and Anthony’s footfall on the stairs. “Oh, here he comes,” Skye said.
Anthony grinned when he saw me. “Blaze is upstairs.”
I gave him a dark look. “I know. I came to tell you that I’m going to have Livvie put up the shield tonight.
I’ll leave once it’s up. I’ve got somewhere I need to be.
” I had a definite location from my vision on the high priestess.
I needed to go investigate as soon as possible, the minute I knew for sure Livvie could handle the ward.
I didn’t have to set it every time, which was how I was able to skip some of the clan meets.
But since we’d dealt with a rogue wolf recently and knowing the high priestess was still out there, I’d been coming to enforce it at every meet, just to be on the safe side.
He nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Sammy.”
With a sharp nod, I popped back home to wait for the time to go to their clan meet.
And as soon as I returned to the clearing in front of Anthony’s place, there he was.
My mate. My body reacted strongly to him being there.
I barked something mean at them, trying to keep him at arm’s length until I dealt with the high priestess, at least.
And maybe after that. I had no idea what to do with a mate, for Pete’s sake. Did I have to feed it often? I wasn’t about to clean up after it.
Swallowing hard, I sharpened my gaze even more as Blaze walked toward me. Damn, he was handsome. My skin buzzed with the desire to step into his arms, which made me all the more grumpy since I wasn’t free to do so at the moment.
When he was close enough for me to smell his musky cologne, I bit my tongue. Too freaking handsome. And what was he doing being so attracted to me? I wasn’t ugly, not by any means, but I wasn’t some great beauty either. My short black hair wasn’t exactly a cut that screamed beauty queen.
Ugh. He put me on edge. Not that I’d admit it.
“How can someone so tiny have so much bravado?” Blaze asked.
The rest of the guys, the inner circle in the clan—mostly all the males who had mated humans, actually—all groaned as one.
“No,” Anthony said. “Just no.”
I cocked my head at Blaze. “I would say size doesn’t matter, but let’s be honest. In most cases it does.”
Blaze winced, but I wasn’t done. “Do you have issues with things being too small?” I puckered my lips as if giving him fake sympathy.
The other guys burst out laughing, trying to hide it, probably since they didn’t really know Blaze. Anthony and Jace leaned on one another and hid their faces as their shoulders shook.
Blaze wasn’t fazed at all.
“I don’t have much experience at all with small things. You won’t have to worry,” he said in a deadpan voice.
For a second, I was impressed—and my interest piqued—by his reply, but he had to go and ruin it.
“You’ve got a lot of fire in your small frame.” He grinned, showing all his teeth.
The jerk. I hated being judged by my size. “Being small is good for me, since I have such a short fuse. Proceed with caution.”
His smile widened, and I actually wanted to swoon. Swoon! Me! Bullshit.
“Are you two done flirting?” Anthony asked. “We’d like to start our flight.”
I cut him a quick glare and a small growl.
Blaze didn’t waste the opportunity. “Growling like that, you sound like you’ve got some dragon in you.”
I held up one finger. “If you’re about to offer to put some dragon in me, I’ll curse you into oblivion, mate or not.” I grinned. “I’ll make your dick reverse. Draw itself up inside your body.”
Blaze rolled his eyes. “Come on. You can’t do that.”
I smirked and flicked my finger, sending energy toward his crotch and gave him a simple shriveling spell.
Blaze gripped his crotch and nearly fell over. I wasn’t actually forcing it up inside his body, but it no doubt hurt like crazy.
“I’m sorry!” Blaze yelled. “I’m sorry!”
“Cut it out,” Anthony said angrily.
With a sigh, I pulled back my magic.
His smile was finally gone, replaced with a dark glare.
It was my turn to smile. “Don’t underestimate me,” I said and walked past him, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder as I walked by.
Anthony fell into step beside me. “That wasn’t right, Sammy.”
Ignoring his admonition, I looked up at him. “I feel Livvie’s magic. She’s enforced the ward and done a nice job. Everything is holding up, so I’m taking off.”
“Where are you going?” he asked. “Is it that witch that was with Leonard?”
I nodded and arched an eyebrow at him. I didn’t want him interfering.
“I wish you’d let us help you,” he said in a low voice. “You don’t have to do everything alone. We’re here for you as much as you are for us. Don’t go alone.”
I hadn’t noticed Blaze sneaking up behind us, damn it.
“Where’s she going alone?” he asked.
Fixing my sternest glare on my face, I turned slowly to look up at him. “Mind your own business.”
“Sure. This is my business.” He crossed his arms and stared down at me, not breaking the gaze.
Mate or not, he was really pissing me off. “Don’t overstep, lizard. You don’t know me, and you have zero say in what I do.”
“Fine. Tell me where you’re going?” He wasn’t letting up and he was standing so close I couldn’t poof out. Anthony stood on my other side, making it hard to move out from the big stupid circle they had me in so I could just leave them here.
“She’s, I think, going to attack a dark witch,” Anthony said, betraying my confidence.
“Hey,” I said sharply. “Betrayal!”
But Anthony just shrugged. “You’re being stubborn.”
I had a good mind to curse his dick up inside his body, but he was right. I was being stubborn.
“Take me with you,” Blaze said. “Wherever it is. I’ll protect you.”
Oh. Okay. Right.
It was damn hard not to laugh in his face. He thought he’d protect me from another witch. I opened my mouth to tell him he sounded like a child, but then had a better idea. No doubt I could take care of her and him at the same time. Two birds and all that.
“Fine.” I reached out and grabbed Blaze’s wrist, moving both of us through space to the spot I’d seen the high priestess in my visions.
Blaze trembled for a second after we appeared. “Whoa,” he whispered.
“Yeah, most people react kind of strongly the first few times,” I said, stepping away from him.
“Can all witches do that?” he asked.
“If they’re trained. But most can’t go as far as I can.” I hadn’t found a limit yet. Looking around the forest, I tried to expand my power out to see if I sensed anything, but I didn’t want to go too far and let Joan sense me, assuming she hadn’t already.
“Just how powerful are you?” Blaze asked.
I shushed him and dropped to my knees, pressing both hands into the mossy forest floor, focusing my power on the land. This wasn’t my territory, but the earth recognized me as good. Any magic that had touched this land, I’d be able to read.
And after a few moments of focus, the vision came back. This time it was a reflection, not a vision.
Joan spoke to a young girl. I focused on the teen, trying to see if I recognized her. The priestess told the girl she’d help her, and that she wasn’t an evil child.
I fell back on my butt as the priestess turned her head, as if seeing me here, in the future, watching them.
Joan spoke. “I’ll make you the most powerful witch that’s ever lived.”
The girl followed Joan’s gaze, and I got a good look at her face. It threw me out of the vision.
She looked just like me!
Blaze grabbed my shoulders. He’d dropped to the ground beside me. “Are you okay? I’ve been yelling your name. I was about to slap you.”
I climbed to my feet, brushing his hands away, but once I was up, I swayed a bit, prompting him to put his arm around me.
“Stop it,” I mumbled and jerked away.
“You don’t have to be so prickly.”
Looking around, trying to figure out what to do next, I ignored him.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Argh,” I growled. “I didn’t ask for help.”
His nostrils flared as he clenched his jaw. “You’re really exasperating. Why do I find it so hot?”
Oh, yeah. Ignoring that, as well as the way it made me feel. I’d also ignored how it felt to be in his arms, even though it was just for a second. “You’re annoying,” I retorted.
Blaze sighed. “Are matings ever wrong?”
Why did that question hurt me? I’d asked myself the same thing a million times since meeting Blaze. Yet when he did, my heart beat a little harder.
“No. But maybe if we wish hard enough, I’ll be able to magic it away.”
Hurt flashed in his eyes. So, it bothered him when I said it. He opened his mouth, but I grabbed his hand and poofed us back to the clearing in front of Anthony’s house just as Anthony landed in his dragon form.
We’d only been gone about a half hour.
Anthony shifted and walked toward us. He narrowed his eyes on my face. “You okay?”
I considered confiding in him. If there was anyone I’d consider taking under my confidence, it was Anthony. In fact, I had a few times already. But no. I wasn’t ready to talk about the little girl. Not yet. “Fine,” I retorted. “I’m going home.”
Turning, I was about to move myself to my house when Blaze called out. “Sammy, wait.”
My chest ached at the sound of his voice, but I would be fine.
I disappeared from the clearing and appeared in my bedroom, right beside my bed.
Falling into it, I curled into a little ball.
I didn’t need a mate. I hadn’t ever wanted one and had never dealt with loneliness or the feeling of being by myself.
Until now.