Chapter 42 #2
Do you love Cal? Soulmate level love?
My fingers hover over the screen. What is a soulmate? One soul in two bodies. Your other half. The person you can’t imagine living without because it hurts when you’re apart.
That’s Cal to me—and why I’m so scared to love him.
I’m terrified
Lyric:
You can do this. You are a strong witch.
I am.
No matter what, Dane isn’t my future.
The sun sets, painting the sky with reds, oranges, and golds that remind me of Cal’s tattoo. My flower on his heart is more telling than a dozen other declarations, and my soul aches to tell him I love him too.
I have to deal with Dane first.
He’s sitting at the bar with Rowan when I finally force myself through the doors. In another impeccable suit. The one he wore in the vision of him getting beaten up.
Awesome.
He immediately stands and wraps me in a hug. “Ready, Beautiful?”
I meet Rowan’s eye over Dane’s shoulder. He lifts his eyebrow and gives a subtle shake of his head.
He knows. And he doesn’t approve.
“Can we talk in private?” I nod toward the patio. Dane follows me, and I hug my stomach. “I can’t go through with the bond.”
“McNamara.” Dane spits Cal’s name. “Thinks he can win.”
“It wasn’t Cal. It’s me. I… I want to bond with a man who loves me, and you… you couldn’t possibly.”
“I can. I do. I told you I want you.”
I don’t laugh in his face, but the urge is there. “What do you love?”
“You’re smart.”
My fingers drum on my forearm. “And?”
“Beautiful.” His eyes dart over my body. “Sexy.”
“Anything else?”
“Children love you. We’ll have cute kids.”
My hands fall to my sides. “You could be describing almost anyone. I’m convenient, and that’s not good enough.”
“You bewitch me.” He slides his hands over my shoulders. “I don’t have the words—”
“You don’t know me. You can’t love someone you don’t know, and I have enough self-respect not to bond with a man who doesn’t love me. I’d rather be alone than in a loveless marriage.” I step out of his grasp. “I’m sorry.”
The tug I felt last night flares in my chest. A deep, rage-filled burn steals my breath.
“I need you, Sienna.”
“You don’t.” The words barely escape my throat through the burn’s grasp.
“You made a promise. A vow. You must honor it.”
“I don’t. I won’t.”
The burn intensifies. My vision wavers at the edges, fuzzy, hazy. A voice whispers, bond, bond, bond with a metallic ringing in my ears. My eyelids are heavy, and fatigue settles into my bones like I haven’t slept in a month.
He’s stealing my energy. How is he doing that?
“I owe a debt and only with your help can I pay it. I refuse to take no for an answer.”
The voice gets louder. Bond. Bond. Bond.
“No. I refuse.”
“Limitless power at your fingertips, and you don’t even use it.
How are you so stupid to not use it? With your power at my disposal, what couldn’t I accomplish?
The bargains I could make. The spells I could cast. But you think fickle, frivolous love is more important.
” He snatches my arm and wrenches my ear to his lips. “I can force the bond.”
He was always after my power. It was never about me. Cal was right all along. “Hex and Hearth rules—you can’t force me to make a deal with you. Everything must be consensual.”
“McNamara will meet with an unfortunate end if you back out. I guarantee it.”
I struggle to tug my arm free, but his grip tightens. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would.” Venom practically drips from the words. He’s transformed into the snake Cal knows him to be.
I don’t doubt that Dane thinks he can hurt Calvin, but Cal is a powerful mage. It takes a lot to hurt him, and he has the advantage that his magic doesn’t require bargains or spells. His magic is innate. If I could summon the vines around us to strangle Dane like Cal can, I would.
Dane wraps his arms around me, spinning my back to his chest and pinning me in place. From the doorway, we must look like lovers in an embrace. “What do you say? Shall we step out front and start the bond to save your precious McNamara?”
I struggle, but magic holds me to him. “You can’t hurt Calvin.”
“I can hurt you, and that hurts him. I see the fire in his eye. I feel the link you share. It took years to mimic the tethers you wrapped around each other. To make that tug in your belly feel like it came from me instead of him.” He trails his fingers down the side of my face.
“But you wanted to believe me so badly, didn’t you?
That part was easy. So desperate and confused. A bond with me fixes all of that.”
“Never.”
“Have it your way.”
My arm burns where he’s gripping me as he siphons magic from my body. A scream ravages my lungs. He shouldn’t be able to hurt me, but my nerves feel like they’ve been plunged into boiling water.
The bar shouldn’t let this happen. It protects us.
My knees buckle, and I slump, but he doesn’t let me fall to the ground. My fingers scratch at his hand, but my strength wanes as the pain eclipses my thoughts.
“Dane.” Cal’s voice barks behind us.
Cal! Be careful. But the words can’t get past Dane’s grip on my throat.
My sight tunnels to pinpricks of light.
Dane’s grip tightens then disappears, and I fall, catching myself on hands and knees.
The old paving stones scrape my palms, but blessed air rushes into my lungs.
My sight returns. My system calms and my magic stabilizes, warmth settling under my skin as Dane’s assault dissipates.
Tears stream from my eyes and blur my vision, but I’d recognize Cal’s outline anywhere.
He lifts Dane off the ground by the throat. “Touch her again, and I will murder you. Do you understand?”
Dane makes a gurgling noise. He tugs Cal’s hand, but Cal’s grip doesn’t waver.
Cal yanks Dane’s face to his own. “Do you understand?”
“Fu…” Saliva sputters from Dane’s lips.
“Calvin.” Rowan’s voice carries from the doorway, quiet like a whisper, but crystal clear. “No blood shall be spilt under this roof.”
Cal nods at Rowan. One crisp jerk of his head. He lowers Dane’s feet just enough for his toes to scape the ground and drags Dane out of the patio. I scramble to my feet and follow. My fingers clutch my arm even though the pain is gone.
Cal steps one foot out the door and pummels his fist into Dane’s nose. The crack and pop echo across the street. Cal flings Dane to the ground, and my vision comes to life.
I brace myself against the door. My body doesn’t recognize that the assault ended and it can recover from the pain. Adrenaline pounding through my system makes it impossible to think clearly.
But Cal is here. He rescued me even after everything that happened between us last night. I need to hold him, talk to him, thank him.
Rowan stands shoulder to shoulder with Cal. “You are banned from Hex and Hearth. Your debt is due.” He snaps his fingers, and Dane writhes on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I gasp.
Dane’s back arches. He clutches his stomach and howls like a wounded animal.
Elara wraps her arm around my shoulder. “The bar is taking back what it is owed. With interest and a penalty for attempting to subvert the proper way of things.”
“It’s taking his power?” I try to watch, but Elara drags me into the bar.
“It was never his. His strength was in the stealing, the bargaining, never in the magic. He will be unable to harm you further. His magic is returned to its origin. You have our word.” She guides me to a stool. “Let’s get you something to take away that sting, shall we?” She nods to my arm.
“How do you know my arm stings?”
She smiles, uncorks an amber bottle, and fills a glass to the brim.
“I need to talk to Cal.”
She presses the glass into my hand. “First things first.”
I take a hesitant sip. The liquid is sweet and smooth across my tongue. “What is this?”
“House specialty.” The bottle lifts from her hand and returns to the back of the top shelf of its own accord.
I roll the next sip across my tongue, but I can’t place the flavors. By the time I empty the glass, the pain is gone. Like an unpleasant dream, but I can’t remember the details.
The only thing that stands out is that Cal isn’t here.
He’s not beside me.
He’s not at our table in the corner or at a bench on the patio. Dane’s gone too.
I pull out my phone and call Cal. He doesn’t answer. I send a text, but it never changes to delivered.
Rowan is behind the bar cleaning a glass as if it is a normal Sunday evening.
“Where’s Cal?”
He tips his chin toward the door. I toss a twenty on the bar and sprint outside.