Chapter 17
“Everyone sees that the tiny tree witch is glowing, right?” Ronin eyed Cece as she stomped back and forth in the living room.
Bishop pulled on a thick pair of gloves. “Yeah, I see it.”
Mal had answered Briggs’s call on the first ring, and half an hour later, he, Bishop, Hudson, and Ronin were pulling into Cece’s driveway.
To Briggs’s surprise, the witch had taken off into the dark woods the second the headlights splashed the trees.
Mal had refused to let Ronin and Bishop go after her.
Mal was standing close to the spell-inscribed rock, and he studied it before turning to Cece. “So, you’re positive wearing gloves will protect Bishop from the spell?”
She didn’t answer. She paced between the couch and the doorway, her blonde hair streaming out behind her and her hands in tight fists. A pale green shimmer surrounded her body, and she muttered to herself as she paced.
Mal turned to Briggs, raising one dark eyebrow. Briggs glanced at Hudson, who stood beside him, before taking a step toward her. “Cece, Mal asked you a question.”
She didn’t look up, didn’t react as if she’d even heard his voice. With another glance at Hudson, Briggs said, “Cecelia, answer Mal’s question.”
Still no reaction. Her cheeks were flushed red, and the green glow surrounding her gave her an eerie look.
Clearing his throat, Briggs said, “Cecelia, look at me, please.”
Her gaze snapped to him, her dark irises rimmed with bright jade. “What? Are you finally ready to fuck me?”
Hudson grunted in surprise and, for once, even the goddamn bird shifter didn’t have anything to say.
“No,” Briggs said, hoping like hell he wasn’t about to lose his job, “I want you to answer Mal’s question.”
“Yes,” she said, staring at Mal and Bishop. “The gloves will protect you. Don’t touch it with bare skin and you’ll be fine.”
“How long does the spell last?” Mal asked as Bishop reached for the rock with his gloved hand.
“Until it’s removed.” Cece gave him a look like she couldn’t believe Mal asked such a stupid question.
“Can you remove it?” Mal studied the words on the rock Bishop now held.
Cece stared at Briggs. “If he fucks me, I can.”
“What the hell?” Hudson said.
“Cece, hush,” Briggs said.
Hudson and the others were staring at him, and heat burned his cheeks.
“What is she talking about?” Mal asked him.
“It’s nothing,” Briggs said quickly.
A grin crept across Ronin’s face. “Oh, it sounds like something.”
“Briggs,” Mal said.
His hesitation made Cece snort and stop her pacing. “He’s my conduit.”
When the others stared blankly at her, she said, “He is mine, and I will not give him up.”
“Um… what the fuck is happening right now?” Hudson asked. “Briggs isn’t yours.”
Green light flared, and Cece turned her gaze to Hudson, the rage practically seeping from her pores.
“Uh oh, Big White is pissing off the tiny tree witch,” Ronin said.
Cece glared at him, and Ronin took a step back and put up his hands. “I’ll let you two work this out. Pretend I’m not here.”
Cece stalked a few steps toward Briggs and Hudson. Her voice soft and filled with deadly venom, she said, “He’s mine, and if you try to take him from me, shifter, I will rip open your throat and bathe in your blood.”
Hudson growled loudly. “You’re welcome to try, witch.”
Briggs’s polar bear surged forward, battling Briggs for control to protect Cece. His bear didn’t care that Hudson was one of his oldest friends, didn’t care that fighting Hudson’s polar bear would probably end in their death. His desire to protect his mate was nearly impossible to contain.
Cece’s magic flared brighter, and when she took another couple of steps forward, Briggs stepped in front of Hudson. “Cece, stop.”
“Move, Briggs,” Cece said, her angry gaze arrowed in on Hudson. “I know he’s your friend, but he needs to be taught a lesson.”
She was glowing so brightly now that he had to squint against the light. Hudson was growling continuously behind him, Briggs’s polar bear was battling to be free, and Briggs could practically taste Cece’s magic in the air.
She took another step forward, and his heart slamming against his ribcage, Briggs said, “Baby, I want you to stop.”
She gave him a look of frustration but backed away, resuming her pacing and muttering as Briggs turned to Hudson. “Sorry, man.”
Hudson nodded, the white fur on his face fading away. “You good?”
“Fine,” Briggs said, scrubbing his hand over his jaw.
Ronin leaned forward from his spot near the couch. “I’m gonna jump back in here for a minute. What’s a conduit?”
“It’s a human or paranormal who makes a witch’s magic stronger just by touching them,” Bishop said.
Except for Cece, they all turned to look at him. He shrugged. “What? I read things.”
“So, when did you realize you’re the tiny tree witch’s conduit?” Ronin asked.
“The night at the hospital,” Cece said.
“But I didn’t know until a few days ago,” Briggs said quickly with a glance at Mal.
Cece stopped pacing and stared at Briggs. “He touched me, and my magic went crazy.”
She shivered all over, another bright flare of light flashing around her. “He’s mine, and when he fucks me, when he gives me his seed, my magic will be more powerful than you can imagine.”
Ronin broke the silence. “Your magic seems pretty strong right now. Were you and the big guy going to bone town tonight?”
“Ronin,” Mal said.
“What? Her magic is stronger. We can all see it.”
Mal’s gaze fell on Briggs, and another bright blush rose in his cheeks.
“Is Ronin right?” Mal asked. “Are you and Cece sleeping together?”
“No,” Briggs said.
Mal gave him a skeptical look, and Briggs said, “We’re not.
We’ve been making sure not to touch, because if we do, we both…
look, we’ve kept things professional, but tonight I woke up to find her in my room, wrapped in vines and hovering above my bed.
Her plants - the goddamn plants - carried her into my room and dropped her on me in bed.
And once we touch, we can’t… it was the goddamn plants, okay? ”
Another few moments of silence before Ronin said, “There’s a lot to unpack there, big guy.”
Cece scoffed. “Why is it so hard to understand? Briggs is my conduit. If I touch him, my magic gets stronger, and Briggs gets a hit of my magic too. It feels good to him, which means he wants more, which makes it easy for me to take what’s mine.
He wants to fuck me, I want to fuck him, and if we do, my magic grows more powerful.
The more powerful I am, the safer I am from whatever crazy ass witch is after me.
So, while I appreciate your help, I really want the four of you to get the hell out of my house so I can get back to fucking what’s mine. ”
When they didn’t move, she sighed with frustration and returned to her pacing and muttering.
“I think the overload of magic is fucking with her head,” Briggs said to the others in a low voice. “This isn’t who she is or how she normally acts.”
“Hey, I get it. My lady is possessive as fuck. It’s kinda hot, especially coming from someone who’s usually so sweet, am I right?” Ronin said.
Briggs growled at him, and Ronin grinned. “Relax, I’m not after your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” Briggs snapped. “Once her magic fades a bit, she’ll be her normal self again.”
“How do you know?” Bishop asked.
“I mean… I assume she will be,” Briggs said.
Mal rubbed his forehead. “Okay, let’s table the conduit thing for now. Can you bring Cece to the office tomorrow afternoon? I’ve arranged for a warlock to do protection spells for any staff working on the Cece job.”
Briggs nodded, and Mal studied the rock in Bishop’s gloved hand. “Maybe this guy can remove the spell from that thing. We’ll throw it in my trunk for tonight and talk to him tomorrow.”
Mal glanced at Cece and then at Briggs. “Sleeping with her is a bad idea. Not just because she’s a client, but -”
“I know,” Briggs said. “I won’t sleep with her.”
“One of us can stay here tonight with you, help keep Cece from…”
When Mal trailed off, Ronin grinned. “Keep her from going all queen of the jungle and tying Briggs to the bed with plants so she can boost her magic with polar bear shifter peen?”
Briggs growled at him again, and Ronin laughed as Mal shrugged. “Basically, yeah.”
“I can handle it,” Briggs said.
“Are you sure?” Mal asked.
“Yes,” he said, even though he had no fucking idea if he could or not.
But it wasn’t just looking like he was failing at the job that had him refusing Mal’s offer. He didn’t want any of the others around Cece. They were all in committed relationships, but it wasn’t enough to stop him or his polar bear from trying to keep other males away from her.
He swallowed hard. That was mate behaviour, and while he expected it from his polar bear, who was convinced Cece was their mate, the fact that he felt the same urge was more than a little alarming. Cece only wanted him because of the magic boost, and he couldn’t forget that.
“We need to find some boards for that window,” Hudson said.
Ronin rubbed his hands together briskly. “It’s not gonna make a difference with how cold it is in here. Christ, she wasn’t kidding when she said it was cold at her place.”
“Her furnace is a piece of shit,” Briggs said.
“Do me a favour and don’t assign me to watch the tiny tree witch when the big guy needs a break,” Ronin said to Bishop. “I’m too delicate for this kind of cold.”
Bishop just rolled his eyes as Hudson said, “Do you think she has something we can board up the window with?”
They all turned to Cece, who had stopped muttering but was still pacing.
She studied the broken window before crossing the room to stand in front of it.
She held her hands out, the green shimmer surrounding them turned to a bright glow, and she chanted an incantation repeatedly in a low murmur.
The broken shards of glass at her feet rose into the air before floating to the window.
They began to knit themselves back together, each piece looking for its proper place as Cece continued to chant.
“Holy shit,” Hudson muttered.