Chapter Two
I knew what’s comingbefore I even felt the slight breath of magic. A fucking sending. And the only mage I knew was Esteban now. It took effort to open my eyes and look around this new dream world. I was expecting fire and brimstone, but what I got was some intense cottage-core. The entire place was decorated with lace and puffy pillows. If lace wasn’t so itchy, I’d be all for the soft bedding.
Not all about the man lying beside me. He looked exactly the same as the first night I’d met him, and the last damn sending he initiated. Too pretty, too charming, his lean body encased in a tuxedo. Why is the world so cruel that evil can be packaged like that?
“What do you want?” I say, already trying to free myself from this sending. My fae magic stuttered out like a candle flame in a breeze. A tiny ping in the back of my brain both worried and hoped it was a nightmare instead.
He huffed, a pout on his full lips as his hair caught the light. “You shouldn’t speak to me like that, you know. I can rip your mind apart with a single thought.”
I waved at the lace covered bed and risked a glance under the covers. Clothed in the black tank and capri workout combo I liked to wear when I have nowhere else to be. Thank fuck. “Then what am I doing here? Surely killing me takes care of most of your problems. I’m tired of the games.”
Instead of arguing with me, he uncoiled from the bed and hovered near the edge so he could look at my face better. “When you have my power, and my immortality, you’ll learn to enjoy the games.”
“Your power and immortality?” I mocked. “No thanks. Look what it’s done to you. I’d rather catch syphilis from a deranged circus clown.”
Of course, I had all the good come backs when no one was here to appreciate them. I shifted on the bed and attempted to walk out of the room.
The door was locked. All the windows were black, so I couldn’t even spot what lay beyond Grandma Irma’s House of Pain.
“You can’t leave just yet, My Sweet. We need to talk.”
I jiggled the handle, putting my strength into it. “You can call me on the phone, for fucks sake. All of you damn men think using magic is somehow better when technology has outpaced it with considerably less effort and risk to the participants.”
He stared at me, a little grin making him look even more pretty in the low lighting. “As if you would answer a call from me.”
“If I knew you were going to hijack my brain, I might have. Once I figure out how to get out of here, I’m going to kill you just for making me look at this place. I’m so fucking pissed I am still being dragged into these things.”
I stopped trying to leave and swung to face him fully. “Where are we? I know this isn’t something from my memory. So, it must be from yours, or your imagination?” The thought disturbed me more than the magic dragging me in against my will.
When he didn’t answer, I danced a mental jig of victory. This place might be creepy, but it meant something to him. Or else why bring me here?
A few moments passed in silence, and I was content to let them stay that way until I woke up. But he had other ideas. “You’ve teamed up with my Fin, Sol, and her little pet.”
I said nothing to his expectant, perfectly groomed eyebrow. But I noted what he called Helix and color me curious.
Again, another awkward silence. The look on his face said he couldn’t believe I wasn’t speaking to him right now. Like I wasn’t fawning to answer his questions. A far cry from the sadistic gentleman who hijacked my dreams last time.
His gaze meant to scold me, and for some reason that made me feel better.
After he’d murdered my friend, threatened to rape me, almost killed me multiple times, and oh yeah, took my parents from me. The guy needed to learn how to read a room. I also needed to learn if I could manifest something in this sending to gut him, since he so graciously put himself in my path.
I tried to tap into my power, but nothing came to me. Figures this would happen the minute I think I finally had a solid handle on things. Not even a blip of what I’d slowly learned felt like Fin’s magic, either.
My nerve endings fizzled from the effort of trying and failing. “Can you just get on with whatever you think you need to say so I can leave?”
His gaze sharpened and his shoulders shifted back. Oh yeah, I’d seen that look on many a man’s face over the years. Right now, he was thinking, how dare I speak to him that way. But after several murder attempts, I was a little disappointed he hadn’t known to expect it.
“You will come to me in one week. If you do this, I will spare your friends,” he grit out.
Something about this seemed vaguely familiar. “Pretty sure you’ve already been threatening us all with a gruesome and a wholly unsatisfying death so, what makes you think I’m going to do what you say now? Hell, Fin can’t even get me to do what he wants, and I actually like him.”
“Of course you do,” he sneered. “Fin is perfect in every way. The perfect man. The perfect mate. The perfect friend.”
“Careful, Esteban, someone might think you’re jealous.” So, it probably was a bad idea to poke the bear, but if anyone was stubborn enough to do it well...that was me.
He surprised me when he lunged toward me. I barely skittered backward to avoid his touch. But he didn’t stop his advance. His body pressed into mine, and it made me want to gag. I hated puking. It was almost as awful as being stabbed.
I shoved him as hard as I could, but he barely budged. All that effort only gave me a few precious inches between us. I’d take it.
“Of course I’m jealous,” he whispered. His voice no less cold for lowering the volume.
I just stared at that revelation.
He continued as if I had invited him to. “Fin has lived his life blessed. I’ve fought for every single thing I have. And yet, when fate makes its choices, they’ve always been for him. Never for me.”
“Yeah, well, fate probably doesn’t like how you think you can play God. Everything you have, or don’t have in your life, is your own fault, you dick. The imaginary mate you spoke of having the last time we did one of these little get-togethers. Where did she go? I bet she ran as far as possible when she saw what your fate had cooked up for her. And I don’t blame her one bit. But blaming Fin for that, taking me in retaliation won’t change things.”
His jaw tensed as he ground his teeth together. It seemed I touched a nerve with that one. A tiny part of me rejoiced at finally, finally, having a weapon against him that could cut deep. The smart play would be to save it for now. Dig up what I needed to hit him hard and then follow through. And for once in my damn life, I blamed Fin for this responsible streak. I kept my mouth shut when all I wanted to do was rant at him until I felt better for it.
But there was something I wanted to know. “How did you impact my fae magic? What did you do to cut it off so I can’t get out of this...” I waved my arms up, hating that my elbows brushed against him as I did it. “Thing?”
“Do you usually ask your enemies to explain things and then they just spill their guts to save themselves from your wrath?” he whispered; his gaze entirely too trained on my lips now.
I shoved at him again. “Whatever works. Most of the time I talk to them to death and they just give up because they are tired of listening to me yammer on. It’s not a strategy for everyone but it’s worked for me.” The last escaped between my lips in almost a grunt as I try to shove him away again. Not only did he steal my power, he’d somehow made me an abject weakling to boot. No doubt in my fantasy this dream belonged to a man.
I obviously would not be able to remove him by brute force. So I straightened to stand tall, wrapped my arms around his torso, and kneed him as hard as I could in the balls.
His face contorted, and he tumbled back a few steps. The sickly shade of white that swept across his face gave me a lady boner.
“Good to know you can feel that even in here.” I confessed, using the opportunity to slip back to the door. It was still locked, but I felt better with an exit between me and the outside world. I frantically tried to call my power again. It was useless. Nothing but a match head striking glass. Did this mean he’d gained some shiny new toy to torture us with, or was this a shiny old toy he hadn’t brought to the party yet? All the fun things to consider as I made a run for it.
While he grappled with his ego, I edged around him to the other side of the room, hunting for another way out. Not that it would help in the sleepy in between I kept getting dragged to for these little meetings.
He gained his feet quicker than I hoped, and now I found myself waiting for his retaliation. It didn’t matter. I’d rather fight than cower, anyway. Especially to someone like him.
The white cast to his features had cleared. All that remained was the calm, cold man I’d come to know as The Black Mage. The bear was officially awake and pissed.
“We are done discussing this,” he said, his tone level and dripping ice. “You will come to me in person and I’ll let your friends live.”
I couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out of my overturned gut. “No. No you won’t. Whether I voluntarily surrender myself to you, or not, we both know you will try to kill Fin.” I emphasized the word try. “And besides, your hench squad already tried that offer, and it failed then, too. I’m not a fucking idiot when it comes to bad guys and the things they do to torture people. I have you to thank for that education. If my parents had never died, then I wouldn’t be who, and what, I am today. So good job. This super fun ride was built just for you, and it will end with my daggers in your gut.”
“I told you I ca—.”
“Kill me with one look?” I met his eyes head on, knowing he wouldn’t, or maybe couldn’t, do a thing against me right now. “Then do it. Save yourself the hassle.”
If he killed me now, I found myself alright with the fact that Fin would use Esteban’s intestines like a scarf, brother or not. That I had zero doubt in. I clung to the feeling because it helped wash away the lingering anger I’d been harboring for Fin over his omission about his brother. I could doubt so many things, but not the fact that Fin would do some damage to avenge me.
“You’ve been hanging out with them too long. You’ve suddenly taken a liking to dramatic speeches,” he said, hands shoved in his pockets now. The pockets I hoped his balls sat in thanks to me.
I shook my head. “You obviously haven’t been paying attention. I’m fucking excellent at dramatic, and motivating, speeches.”
He studied me. His gaze locked on my face, then down to my neck, and further. I felt naked under his eyes, despite the workout clothes covering the important bits.
“Stop looking at me like that.” Something occurred to me under his lechery. “You already knew I was Fin’s mate, didn’t you? Before I even knew.”
Something passed across his features. It wasn’t as cold and hard as he’d been projecting at me. Hell pelting at me. Funny considering I was only here because he trapped me. Well, two can play at that game. Maybe if I pushed the right buttons, he’d let me go.
Or kill me. I scanned his tux. In that outfit, maybe a fifty/fifty shot.
He cracked his knuckles and took another slow look up my body. Maybe sixty/forty.
I’d faced worse odds, way worse odds. He doesn’t want me dead until he plants gross mage babies inside me. And they said romance is dead.
“What about your mate?” I asked, pressing forward. “What happened to her?”
With a growl, he advanced, his hands up as if he’d push me. I dodged the move easily enough.
While his suit might be expensive, it wasn’t made with agility in mind. He stumbled to the side before righting himself and aiming his hands at my neck. It took mere seconds to slap my forearms hard on top of his wrists to stall his progress. Seconds. And yet, it felt like hours. Ages while I watched my arms impact his bones the same way it did mine. But to my advantage, I’d spent many years desensitizing high hit areas.
“She couldn’t stand you, could she?” I brought us back to the conversation from before. “The second she realized she’d never be more than a vessel for your power. Her womb, or her magic, dealer’s choice on that one.”
He lunged, and then nothing.
No impact, no voices, nothing but darkness like I floated in space somewhere. It occurred to me that I should be scared. But then the harbored spark of my magic blazed back to life. It washed through me, and I let out a long, full, exhale for what felt like hours. Since the second I spotted Esteban lying next to me.
I followed that feeling back home. Back to Fin.
But there was something important I needed to remember. Something about The Black Mage. Everything became an utter blank and I let my eyes close as I drifted gently. A dream then.
Maybe it was a bad dream, and I’d remember what happened tomorrow.