Midnight Magic, page 53
Another wave of evil magic rolled over her and Nora tasted blood, even though her mouth wasn’t there.
She was dying.
She knew the limits of her body. She could take a lot of damage. But she was at the edge. And there wasn’t any help coming.
Inside, she wailed. There was nothing she could do.
Warm hands clamped on her shoulders, and a flash of bright blue magic nearly blinded her. But suddenly, Nora had a mouth and could suck in deep breaths of air.
She opened her eyes, and the evil witch and silver bindings were gone.
She was in her apartment, collapsed on her old gray couch, her body covered in sweat, wearing her work clothes but only one shoe, with Julian Frankfurt weaving spells over her head.
“Wha—” she tried to speak, but her throat was dry, and the word was too weak to make much noise.
She didn’t hurt, and something told her that was bad. Her body had been in a constant state of pain for the last month. For that pain to be suddenly gone, she had to be close to death. Shock.
Shifters didn’t go into shock. They healed too fast.
And yet.
At least she wasn’t dying alone. Her mate was over her, doing his magic for some reason, his face scrunched up with worry. He said something, but she didn’t understand the words. Everything was muted and the room was darker than it should have been.
Julian waved his hands, which glowed with magic, the color growing stronger as his voice droned on. She wanted to know what he was saying, but no matter how hard she focused, she couldn’t understand a thing.
It didn’t matter. She was a shifter, not a witch. She’d never be able to perform spells anyway.
Julian reached down and ran his finger down the center of her shirt. Despite the muted pain and the cold of her shock, Nora shivered at his touch. Her body yearned for him, even in her dying moments. She wanted to clutch his hand close to her and absorb the feeling until she stopped breathing.
If he could tell what she was feeling, he ignored it.
He’d used magic to split her shirt in two, and he spread the sides open, exposing her chest to the cold air of the apartment. His chanting stuttered for a moment, and he cursed.
Nora looked down. Bruises blossomed from her abdomen and crawled all over her torso. She didn’t know if they spread to her legs or neck, and she didn’t have the strength to ask.
Julian’s magic swelled further, and he flattened his palm on her chest, his thumb resting between her breasts and his fingers over her heart. It burned and she screamed.
And then in a bright flash, it stopped.
Nora froze, afraid that if she moved, the pain would come back and she’d wake up to find this was all part of an impossible dream.
She didn’t want it to be a dream.
Julian perched on top of her, staring down, his eyes bright, glowing with faint magic that made them appear almost silver. She realized the reason it was dark was that night had fallen and the curtains were half shut. Her senses hadn’t betrayed her that far yet.
He was a comfortable weight on her, one she would have welcomed in other circumstances. She welcomed him now. For the first time in a month, she didn’t hurt, and it was all due to him.
“Am I cured?” Her voice was scratchy and her throat dry. But she didn’t move to go get water. Why would she when she could feel the weight of Julian perched on top of her?
Julian swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. He nodded. He shifted to slide off of her, and Nora clamped her hand on his wrist to keep him from moving.
If she was at her full strength, she could have whipped him around and changed their positions without breaking a sweat. Right now, she was happy to stay where she was, so long as he was right there with her.
“There might—” Julian started to speak.
Nora’d had enough of words. She slid her free hand up his arm and clamped him on the back of the neck, pulling his face down towards hers.
He didn’t resist.
Their lips met and whatever tension was left from the curse dissolved, only to be replaced by something hotter. The kiss started off gentle, a brush of the lips that could have been an accident or a thank you. Then Julian’s lips teased hers and Nora opened for him.
Her witch wasn’t afraid to take control, and Nora let him lead. What else could she do when he had her pinned and at his mercy?
She moaned under him, fire racing through her veins unlike anything the curse had thrown at her. The pleasure was so overwhelming it was almost pain, but Nora didn’t shrink from him. She would have torn his clothes off if it didn’t mean breaking the kiss.
This was the promise of their meeting a month ago. This was what she’d so strongly resisted.
She’d been a fool.
Fate didn’t give second chances. She’d been teetering on the edge of death and still too stubborn to call. But Julian was here now and Nora wanted to sob at how happy she was. Her wolf was still sleeping inside of her, but today she didn’t worry about it. That was a problem for tomorrow.
She was kissing her mate. The curse was broken. For the first time in far too long, everything was almost as it should be.
Something nagged at the back of Nora’s mind, but she ignored it and ran her hand through Julian’s hair, the short strands tickling her skin. She nipped at his lip, pulling him even closer. There was no space between them as she wrapped one leg around his hips and felt the hard press of his cock through their annoying layers of clothing.
Yes. Now.
If she were the witch, she’d magic their clothes off right then and there. She didn’t know how Julian was stopping himself. She was holding onto him tight enough to bruise, and he kissed her like a man possessed. All of the longing of the last month poured into her, all of his lust and frustration and need.
The curse was nothing compared to the inferno roaring within her. And Nora kept kissing him.
His hand cupped her naked breast, and she realized whatever he’d done to tear her shirt had also ripped her bra in two. She’d care about that later when she wasn’t being bespelled by his touch. His finger teased her nipple and she moaned.
More.
She didn’t know if she spoke it or if he read the need in her body, but he kept going. She was frustrated by the feel of his shirt under her own hands and dug in. He grunted, but didn’t push her away.
Even in her human form, she was stronger than a normal woman, and she should have been careful.
But Julian wasn’t complaining.
She could kiss him forever.
This was what they were meant to be. Ignoring the curse had been stupid. Ignoring her mate? Nora didn’t know what had possessed her.
The thoughts piled on, one after another, and Nora tried to lose herself in the kiss once more. But all she could think was mate, Julian, Julian, mate. She wanted to surrender to it, to let herself be taken by the witch.
She’d never felt this way before. It was beyond impossible. She didn’t think things like this. It was like someone was rooting around her brain and rewiring her until all that mattered was Julian.
She tore herself away from him and glared. “Get out of my fucking head!”
CHAPTER 6
She arched her hips up and Julian lost his balance, sprawling against the couch and giving Nora enough room to slither out from under him and get her feet under her. Her body felt tight, almost like it did when she went too long between shifting forms. But that never left her feeling empty.
She had to tear her gaze away from Julian before she did something stupid like kiss him again.
“You’re in my head,” she accused. Her shirt hung on her in tatters, and she pulled the pieces together to cover herself. Shifters weren’t normally body conscious, but her every pore was attuned to this man and she had to do something.
Julian breathed deep, his chest heaving. His eyes still glowed with magic, and even though she knew he was a healer, he looked dangerous. This was the kind of mage that could slay dragons.
Or command them.
And he was looking at her like he had every right to be there.
“I’m not,” he said. “I swear it on my honor and my magic.”
That made her pause. A denial meant nothing. Everyone could lie. But swearing on his magic could have repercussions. “You’re doing something to me.” She couldn’t let it go.
His lip curled into a humorless smile. “You’re doing the same to me. You know what this is.”
Mate.
The word hung in between them. When she’d been teetering between life and death, there’d been no defense against it. Ever since she first laid eyes on him, Nora’s wolf had known what Julian was to her. She wanted to roll around in his scent until it was embedded deep in her skin. She wanted to mark him so everyone knew not to get too close.
But her sanity reasserted itself. Julian was a witch. He had a coven and a life away from her. She wasn’t about to pack up and move her life for a man she barely knew, no matter how well he kissed.
He never asked that, some buried part of her mind whispered, but Nora quashed it. She didn’t have time for a mate.
She took another step back, putting space between them. The corner of Julian’s mouth quirked up. He knew exactly what she was doing. She rooted herself in place. He wouldn’t make her retreat any further.
Not even when he stepped forward, close enough that his scent weaved around her, strong enough to enchant a weaker wolf. Nora did her best to ignore it.
“You know what this is,” Julian insisted.
“What did you do to me? To the curse?” When in doubt, go on the offensive. If she kissed Julian again, there was no stopping it. Her clothes would come off and she’d ride his cock until they both forgot what it was to be separate. And she didn’t want that.
For some reason.
Because I have a life and a pack, and I’m not giving it up for some guy.
Julian didn’t step back, but he did stop looking like he was about to devour her. “I extracted the magic that was choking the life out of you and released it. I’ll need to do another scan in a few days to make sure I rooted out the curse, otherwise it will grow back faster than before. Frankly, I don’t know how you survived this long. Shifters have innate magic, it’s what allows you to shift. That probably gave the curse a bit of a struggle. But you should be dead.”
Was it wrong that Nora felt a bit proud? She was stronger than the average wolf and had outlasted a curse meant to take out a powerful witch.
And then Julian had to keep talking and ruin it. “You’re an idiot. You had two covens surrounding you the day after you were cursed and you didn’t ask anyone for help. You no doubt have access to healers in your territory. You could have even gone to a human hospital and they could have given you fluids or something to help your body regenerate to fight the curse! And yet you tried to fight it off like some stubborn wolf with a death wish.”
“I am a stubborn wolf,” she snarled. Her fingers curled, and she wished she could summon her claws.
“With a death wish?”
They were standing close again. One breath apart. Nora’s eyes flicked down to Julian’s lips, and she tore her gaze away.
“You’ll forgive me if I was distrustful of Rosalie Palmer’s coven after she cursed me.” Standing in place wasn’t doing her any good. She walked past Julian and into the kitchen, wincing at the plates in the sink. Oh well. Julian would have to learn she wasn’t the neatest person if he was going to stick around.
Which he wasn’t.
Obviously.
She pulled a clean glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. “Are you thirsty?” she asked him.
It brought him up short, but he took the glass from her and sipped. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She filled another glass for herself. Curse lifting was thirsty work.
Julian set the glass down on the counter between them. “You could have come to anyone in my coven,” he pointed out. “Audra would have seen you in a heartbeat.”
“Audra was recovering.” The witch had nearly died at Rosalie’s hand. Her brown skin had been sallow, and she’d looked like she’d aged a decade in a matter of hours.
“You could have come to me.”
“You were gone!” It came out harsher than she intended, and the glass in her hand shattered. Nora looked down in shock.
They both froze, looking at the piece of glass she was still holding.
Her strength was returning.
The thought broke her out of her trance, and Nora placed the glass on the counter and turned carefully, looking for her broom.
“Let me do that,” Julian insisted. “You don’t have shoes on.”
“My feet will heal.” Glass was nothing compared to enhanced shapeshifter regeneration.
“Argh!” Julian threw his hands up. “You do have a death wish, even if you won’t acknowledge it. I am trying to help you, you stubborn wolf. Clearly you can’t be trusted with your own well-being. I’m coming back next week to check on the curse. You’re going to let me in. I will not let you die. But if I stay here another minute…” He spun around without finishing the thought and marched toward her door.
It was for the best. Nora’s heart was only beating fast because of the unexpected outburst. It had nothing to do with the emotions he’d raised in her or the thrill of her strength.
No, this was fine.
She wasn’t even going to watch him go. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on the boom and swept the glass into a neat pile.
She didn’t even step on any of it. So there!
A gust of wind blew in, and she snapped her head up. “Close the—” But it wasn’t the door.
A massive wave of dark magic swirled around Julian, and he met it with a scream.
CHAPTER 7
Anger crashed into Julian and was quickly replaced as he felt the wave of dark magic surging towards Nora’s apartment. He was spent. The magic he’d used to heal her had taken him to his limit and left him hanging by a thread.
No wonder they’d argued. He had nothing left in him to help him temper his emotions.
But as soon as he felt the magic, he opened himself up, tugging at the natural magic that suffused the earth and pulling it into himself. It hurt. The magic was sluggish, viscous, heavy, and unwilling to come his way when he’d already taken so much for Nora.
His body was tired and tried to refuse the pull.
But his mind was stronger.
And his mate was still in danger.
It didn’t matter that the foolish woman wouldn’t acknowledge what was between them. He’d felt every emotion she sank into that kiss, and nothing could make him walk away. He was going to find out what she wanted, what she feared, what was holding her back, and do whatever it took to make her his.
But she had to survive first. And the magic heading her way was intent on her destruction.
It felt like the curse. Magic carried different flavors. Sometimes it came from the person casting it, sometimes from the type of spell. This was a mix of both. He sensed Rosalie Sutton’s magic signature, which must have come from the curse. The witch was locked up in a cell deep in a mountain somewhere and blocked from using any magic. But there was another magic signature mixed with it, one he almost recognized.
One of Sutton’s accomplices, no doubt.
But even stronger than those signatures was the cascade of evil intent to the magic. Magic itself was supposed to be neutral, and it was the caster who shaped it. But this magic had lived inside of Nora for long enough that it had become warped. And once released and allowed to grow in the open, its corruption wanted to spread.
If he didn’t stop it here, it wasn’t only Nora who was in danger.
Julian shoved his fears and worries out of his mind. They had no place there, not when he was fighting the kind of magic that could destroy a town if left to run rampant. He’d imprison Sutton five times over for unleashing this on the world.
It felt like knives flowing inside of his veins as he pulled magic to him. He would pay for this.
If he survived.
He could sense Nora’s presence somewhere behind him, but couldn’t spare a word for her. She wasn’t moving. Good. If she moved, the magic might shift to target her. Right now, he had all of its attention.
He directed his magic toward the corruption, circling around it and trying to contain it. If even a speck escaped him, it could grow and return. It would take time, but it would come back. Julian wouldn’t allow it.
His magic grew, unfolding and spreading, thin as cellophane but strong as iron. He could use some iron right now. Or salt. Something of the earth to contain the mass.
“Salt!” There was a fist of magic clamping his throat nearly shut, but he forced the word out.
“What?” Nora’s voice was far away.
“Salt. Circle. Around darkness.” Every word was a mountain of effort. Julian had the magic contained for the moment, but if his control slipped for even a second, it would be over. A salt circle would buy him time.
Nora figured it out. She came into his field of vision holding a large box of sea salt and poured it out, giving the magic a wide enough berth that it didn’t threaten to touch her. There wasn’t quite enough salt, so she dropped to her knees and evened out the circle with her hands. Thin, but enough.
“Back,” he gasped when it was done.
She scurried back.
The pressure in his head lessened. Salt couldn’t hold back magic forever, but the magic had to fight against the salt and him.
Julian plucked at the dark magic and sent a strand into the salt, grounding and nullifying the magic’s power. Then he took another strand, and another. He slowly winnowed away at the power. His knuckles ached and his fingers felt rubbed raw, but after hundreds, maybe thousands, of strands of magic, it appeared the dark power had faded.
There was still so much of it.
He wanted to slump back, to take a break and strengthen himself before he finished. But he feared if he did that, the magic would find a way to regenerate.
