28. Stranger Danger
28
STRANGER DANGER
MAXUM
I n the early morning, I find Jade in the yard between the two cabins, sitting in a meditation pose with Amira.
I wait patiently for their training session to be over, knowing Jade needs to work on her focus. It isn’t horrible, but she allows her mind to wander if she’s triggered with a new shiny thought or a problem to solve.
For her writing career, it works perfectly. In a magical battle to the death, not so much.
When Jade and Amira blink back to their surroundings, I give them both a nod. “Thank you for your help, Amira.” Then I turn to Jade. “Darius is going to meet us in a bit, but I’d like a word alone with you first.”
“Okay. Thank you for making me the magic containment talisman.” Jade smiles widely at our host.
Amira slightly bows her goodbye and walks back to the main house.
“Ugh.” Jade grumbles and hops to her feet. “That sounds a lot like we need to talk talk.”
I know from reading romance books, that’s the breakup talk. A bit of trepidation fills her eyes and her shoulders curl in slightly.
“No, darling. But you might not like it.”
The statement has her shoulders straightening and her eyes narrowing. “Might as well get on with it then, instead of me imagining all kinds of random stuff.”
To the point it is then. “Osen was correct to discourage you from the dangerous path of resurrecting him,” I say firmly. “It’s one thing to channel Calder’s fragments, and quite another to hunt down our enemies and use your untested powers. We don’t even know the spell they used to rip the magic out of him.”
“Actually, we do.” She crosses her arms, looking triumphant. “Osen heard it when they used it on him.”
I thought he was against this plan! I guess he might change his mind now if he hopes it will work.
I swallow hard. “His memory was while he was dying. He might not have caught the whole thing or accurately.”
Osen’s charcoal eyes appear, and his deeper voice cuts through. “I see and hear your concern. I have it too. I won’t let her do this if it risks her life.”
“It will risk her fucking life!” I shout. “Not if! ”
“Okay. Maybe it’s better to say if it’s too much of a risk.” He shakes his head. “Jade’s already argued for this, and she has a point. As long as those assholes are alive, she isn’t safe. No one is safe. We should go after them.”
“No.” I throw my hands in the air in frustration. “She needs to work on her powers. If we get caught, she can fight back.”
“Amira won’t let us stay here forever. And you know as well as I do that eventually we will get caught if we leave. If we wait for our enemies to find us first, then they’ll have the upper hand.”
Dammit, why does he have to make sense?
Osen continues. “I’m not saying we go today or even this week. We need to test this spell and her magic. We all need to be ready to go on the offensive as soon as possible.”
“Tracking down any witch or warlock is fucking dangerous right now,” I huff.
“Don’t you want your mate to be free of a parasitic ghost?” Osen snaps.
“Shush up, you aren’t a parasite,” Jade interrupts, sounding irritated, like she’s had this conversation a million times.
I shrug, because he’s not wrong about being a psychic leech.
Jade rushes to me. “I have to try to help him.”
I catch her by the shoulders, and she gasps. I stare down into her glowing green eyes. “I know. But, my love, everything in me is warring against this idea. I wish I could burn the realms and keep you safe and properly fucked and sated.”
“For fuck’s sake, can you keep it in your pants for five seconds?” Darius snarls from behind me.
When I turn to scowl at him, I see a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.
He’s a prick, but he also knows the need our kind has for our mates and is busting my balls about it. I doubt he waited long to mate with Amira once he found her.
I’m surprised I haven’t given in and claimed her soul, but I know how dangerous that might be. I can’t have us running from both witches and demons.
“Let’s get on with it.” Darius grunts and eyes Jade with a glower that would make a lesser being crumble.
Not her. She’s studying him right back, like she’s making notes for her next book. I’m almost jealous. I want to be her next main character. Though she could just as easily make him an irrelevant side character, so I relax.
With Darius’s special hellhound sight, he evaluates her magic, her life force, her demon energy signature. “Good news is that even after her magic has bloomed, she won’t come off as a demon right away unless they dig, so that’s a fucking miracle.”
“If she doesn’t put up any wards, what will people sense?” I ask.
“I don’t know what people will sense. But a hellhound will leave her alone. Unless she throws demon magic around and catches their attention.”
Jade shivers. “And what happens if I do that?”
“They’ll drag you down to hell.”
He’s about to explain the gruesome aspects of demon culture, so I stop him short. “Yep, let’s avoid that!” I say almost cheerfully.
Jade cocks a brow at me, but doesn’t press for answers. When I skim her mind, she thinks that I’m just sensitive about my ancestral roots. That isn’t the half of it.
Thank fuck, Osen keeps his trap closed. I doubt he wants to worry her either.
“You have Amira’s talisman?” Darius prompts.
Jade pulls the metal charm from her pocket and dangles it from the chain.
“It needs to be in contact with your skin to work,” Darius explains. “Put it on, and I’ll take another gander at you.”
Jade slips the necklace on, and I feel her magic mute. Amira said she could make another more powerful one if this one didn’t work, but it would take longer for her to create.
“I assume most supes or witches wouldn’t give you a second glance with this in place,” Darius says with a shrug.
“Agreed.” I cross my chest and a growl escapes me when I realize Jade is set to leave Amira’s wards.
“Cool!” Jade says happily. “Can we please go to the grocery store and maybe a coffeehouse? Oh, and I’d like to get some more clothes. Can we bring my computer so I can see if this talisman will allow me to use it for writing?”
Darius looks over at me as Jade rambles on. “I’m glad Amira’s the quiet type.”
Jade stops talking and pouts. She opens her mouth, likely about to insult his grumpy behavior, but I stop her with my comment.
“Jade is perfect for us, so I suppose it all works out as it should.”
Her pretty eyes light up, and she crashes into my body in an all-consuming hug.
Fuck. I love this woman.
Of course, absolutely no one wanted to be left behind as we left for civilization. If you can even call most human cities civilized.
The plan is to wear our glamours and split up, blending in and keeping an eye on each other.
One beautiful woman with four intimidating males will draw unwanted attention. Hell, just one of us with her will probably get noticed. And the witches have eyes everywhere. We’ll have to watch for fucking tattling familiars too.
Luckily, I’m paired with Jade since I have the innate portal magic. Not that Calder can’t make one too, but it takes him a lot longer and drains his reserves. Seconds can mean the difference in life or death.
Jade is still fuming that she didn’t inherit demon portal magic. She could probably learn the complex skill like Amira has, but again, it’s magically draining for those without the gift.
Osen could create one in his own body, but he needs his incubus magic for it to work. He just doesn’t have enough magic other than to seduce our mate in the shadowscape.
I’ve often wondered if the shadowscape was the final resting place for incubi souls. But with what we’ve learned about Osen’s death, it seems like that theory is bunk.
We only got to visit a rundown haunted warehouse when we left Amira’s sanctuary before. This time, Jade bubbles with excitement as we make the trek beyond the borders.
I don’t like that we’re leaving again so soon, but we’re all going a bit stir crazy. We’re used to fighting and hunting. Hiding is not in our natures.
After I create the first of many portals, I take Jade’s hand. She swings our arms between us like we are human spawn on a school field trip.
“Don’t use magic in front of humans if you can avoid it.”
“Because the Supes Council will be mad I outed them?” she asks.
“Because we don’t need the attention. You’re unregistered, which is how we want it. If the magic world knew what you could do…” I trail off not wanting to say it.
“I’d be the new lab rat.”
I grunt in agreement. “Don’t talk to anyone,” I remind her.
“Stranger danger, got it, sir.” She salutes me and laughs at me when I roll my eyes. I appreciate she can be so lighthearted with all that’s happened, but sometimes I worry she believes this is all some wild hallucination.
She’s too brave for her own good.
Jade accepted five monsters into her heart and into her bed like it isn’t a fucking big deal. She’s pushing her limits to make sure we all get our individual happily ever afters. It makes me love her even more than I do. But damn if it doesn’t irritate me that we aren’t focusing on Jade’s well-being. Although she’s already argued that making sure the pack is happy also benefits her.
Thank goddess she has more than human and witch blood to keep her alive. Now that it’s free inside her, the demon blood alone might offer some protection from most magical attacks. Jade’s fae blood is already helping to speed up her healing. She needs that healing just to recover from all the sex she’ll have with four and, possibly soon, five mates.
I portal us through several places before we arrive at our destination in the human realm—a coffeehouse that allows computer use.
I give Jade some cash to buy whatever she likes, and I order a black coffee to drink as I wait outside.
With her mocha and pastry in hand, she finds a seat where I can easily watch her from the sidewalk. She sets up her computer and tests out her magic containment talisman. I do my best to not look like a stalker, but my eyes can’t help but snag on her every time I do a sweep of my surroundings.
She’s so gorgeous, even in plain, baggy clothes and no makeup, my heart aches to be near her. I want to sit next to her and listen to her silly (and usually dirty) jokes as she giggles at herself. I want her to confess all her thoughts and dreams and share all my secrets.
I snap out of my daydream and scan the area again, finding the other guys just as transfixed as they watch her.
Jade blissfully is unaware of our possessive longing as she types away on her computer. Good. This will ease her anxiety about her future since she can continue her writing after we vanquish Galiana and Rob.
I allow myself to indulge in her fantasy, where we steal back Osen’s power, kill them off, and then return Osen to our pack. Then Jade can claim each of us as mates.
I have no doubt he would be a better, more considerate member than he ever was before.
After a half hour goes by, Jade packs up her laptop computer into the lead-lined case to protect it from magic.
She gives me a wide smile as she sashays toward the cafe’s main door.
Then all hell breaks loose.