Jaxson (River Pack Wolves 1) - New Adult Paranormal Romance (17 page)

“It’s just that… I
know
shifters and witches are mortal enemies.” Olivia bit her lip, hoping she wasn’t crossing a line here.

“Unless we’re in bed together.” Gwen’s face transformed from horrified into a smirk in no time flat.

“And maybe even then,” Olivia countered. “I’ve heard the stories, Aunt Gwen.”

She just rolled her eyes. “Do you believe every story you hear about shifters?”

A fair point. 
“All right,” she conceded. “Back to the spell—what kind of essence of Jaxson do you need?”

“A memory. The more intimate, the better.”

Olivia scrunched up her nose. Sharing that just seemed… wrong.

“Well, it would be easier with a hair sample or article of clothing, but I’m assuming you didn’t bring any of that.”

Olivia sighed. “No.”

Gwen strode over to one of the burnished-wood bookcases that lined her office and plucked a pinch of something out of an iridescent glass box. She brought it back to Olivia and sifted the whitish powder with the fingers of one hand, letting it fall into the palm of the other.

“Would you like to learn how to do a seeking spell, Miss Olivia?” Aunt Gwen’s eyes were lit up with delight.

“I’m not doing any magic, Aunt Gwen.” Olivia scowled.

The delight faded. “My dear, you’re going to have to learn someday.”

“No, really, I don’t.” When Gwen looked unconvinced, Olivia added, “I mean it, Aunt Gwen. I’m not going there.”

“Very well.” Her lips pursed again and waved her hand over the tiny pile of white dust, whispering some kind of incantation. The words must have been from another language because Olivia couldn’t understand them. Returning to English, her aunt said, “You’ll only be a bystander in this one—providing a key ingredient for the spell, if you will. I’ll be doing all the magic.”

Olivia nodded her consent.

The dust in her aunt’s hand began to smoke, and a swirl of tiny blue sparks dove through the small cloud in her hand. Gwen held her hand up to Olivia’s face, and then gently blew the smoke her way.

Olivia did expect
that,
but her gasp only sucked the smoke directly into her lungs. She huffed it out again, thinking she might cough, but instead the world just got a little blurry around the edges. Her aunt’s face loomed large nearby.

“Think about a time you were intimate with Jaxson.” Her voice seemed to boom too loudly, like they were suddenly in an immense room, and her aunt had grown ten times her original size. The office walls warped in the periphery of Olivia’s vision. “Find a time when he touched your very soul.”

Images of Jaxson flashed before Olivia’s eyes—his smile, his deep chuckle, their lovemaking—but the image that zoomed up and stayed was him leaning close to her, forcing her back against the door of her apartment and whispering,
You’re worth fighting for.

“Oh my,” Aunt Gwen breathed in appreciation. “I can see why you’re fond of that one.”

That made the image wobble a little, and hot embarrassment shot through Olivia, but she grabbed hold of the memory—it was also the reason she was trying so hard to lift his curse. Without it, Jaxson wouldn’t fight so hard and come so dangerously close to her.

The image was frozen before her now, and the blue sparks from the spell cloud swirled around his body, buzzing like bees looking for a place to land.

“The magic is strong with this one,” Gwen murmured. “His own, as well as another’s.”

The vision vanished, returning Olivia to the plain, reality-filled sight of the office. It was jarring to her mind, making her teeter for a moment.

She blinked away the vertigo. “Well? Did you get what you needed?”

Gwen’s lips were turned down. “I’m afraid the spell is still tightly bound to him.”

“How can we break it?”

“We can’t, dear,” Gwen said with a sigh. “Only the one who cast it can break it. Alternatively, we could let the spell fulfill its original purpose. Then it will dissipate of its own accord.”

“It’s purpose was to kill Jaxson’s mate!” She could hardly believe her aunt would suggest that as an option.

“I agree it’s an unfortunate turn for that particular female,” she mused. “On the upside, he would be free to mate again.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“Gwen!” 
Olivia’s mouth dropped open.

Her aunt shrugged like it was no big deal. “It was just a thought.”

Olivia’s shoulders slumped. “There has to be another way.” She turned away from her aunt, still horrified by what she suggested, and pretended to study the multitude of glass jars and boxes on her shelf. What other awful things had her aunt contemplated doing, much less carried out, with all these powders and the incantations that went with them? Jaxson was right to believe that witches were basically evil… and not just the one who cursed him. Although that witch definitely took it to a twisted level. How selfish would you have to be to deny someone a chance at true love simply because he wouldn’t please you in bed? Not that Jaxson’s pleasuring-abilities weren’t epic, but still.

Then it clicked… Olivia turned back to her aunt. “You said the witch who cast the spell could break it.”

Gwen’s face twisted up in disbelief. “Well, the moon could fall out of the sky tomorrow… but it’s highly unlikely to do so.”

Olivia strode back to her. “You know who she is.”

“Yes,”
Gwen said emphatically. “And I know the last thing on earth she would consider is revoking a spell of this kind.”

“Maybe I can persuade her.”

“You?”
Gwen shook her head, eyes wide. “Olivia, my dear, you’re not even a fledgling witch. You shy away from the smallest of spells. Sybil would eat you alive.”

“You could help me.” Olivia edged closer.
“Please,
Aunt Gwen.”

“Oh, for the love of magic.” Her aunt gave her a look like her long-lost niece might be more trouble than she was worth.

Olivia rushed out. “I’ll do anything, Aunt Gwen. I’ll… I’ll even try some magic. Maybe. Nothing too crazy. Only because it’s dangerous.
I’m
dangerous.”

Her aunt’s green eyes softened. “You’re not
dangerous,
dear. You’re just…
inexperienced.
And you come from a very powerful line of witches. With the right training, you could become an amazing asset to our coven.”

“I… I
would
like to learn how to control it.”
That
was a complete lie. Joining a coven of witches was the last thing on earth she would ever do. But she could backtrack on her promise later. Or think of something. “Do this for me, Auntie Gwen, and I promise, I’ll give it a try.”

“It’s been my dream all these years to have you join us, Olivia, but… you have to understand. Sybil is very unlikely to grant your request. Even with my…
persuasion.”
Her aunt’s face pinched up with worry.

But Olivia already knew all that. And she was sure this witch, Sybil, was dangerous as well. “I have to try.”

Gwen sighed. “All right.” Then she wagged a finger at Olivia. “But let me do the talking. Sybil isn’t someone you want to cross.”

Then she twirled in her perfect red suit and lead Olivia out the door.

“Is this some kind of crass little joke?” Sybil’s disgust was palpable.

Aunt Gwen stood tall under the other witch’s glare.

Olivia lurked behind her aunt’s thin frame.

Sybil wasn’t part of her mother’s coven—in fact, she didn’t have a coven at all. As far as Olivia could tell, Sybil was flying solo in her one-woman consulting firm not far from
Urban Damon Design’s
office. Maybe even fellow witches couldn’t stand her? She was as beautiful as Jaxson claimed—mile-high cheekbones, long raven hair, porcelain skin—but it was a haughty kind of beauty, with eyes as cold and black as space. Her barely-there, cleavage-baring purple silk blouse clung to her ample breasts and draped over her pencil-thin black skirt, amping up the sex appeal. A small trail of smoke curled menacingly from the thin finger she had pointed at Gwen.

“This isn’t a joke, Sybil,” her aunt said evenly. “And in exchange for this small favor, I’m sure
Urban Damon
could toss a few clients your way.”

“I don’t need your clients!” Sybil’s voice deepened like a storm gathering power.

Olivia glanced around the office—the furnishings were all extremely high end, but that could easily be glamour. The office itself was in an older, somewhat shabby high-rise, right on the edge of downtown where it started to transition to the area with the homeless shelter. Sybil certainly wasn’t doing as well as
Urban Damon,
no matter what she claimed.

“What’s your price, then, Sybil?” Gwen’s voice was still even, but Olivia could tell she was already starting to lose patience. “Surely there’s something we can work out with this.”

“Why do you care what happens to this shifter, anyway?” Sybil peered around Gwen to cast a bone-chilling look upon Olivia. “And who is this fledging you have hiding in your skirts?”

“She’s my niece.” The friendliness of Gwen’s voice dropped two levels. “She’s in training. I simply brought her along to observe.”

“Training?” 
Sybil wrinkled her nose up in disgust. “Rather old for that. A little slow, is she?”

Gwen’s hands flexed, and a bit of smoke leaked from them as well, but she kept them at her sides.

Sybil huffed her disdain for Olivia and turned back to Gwen. “So why all the interest in pretty little Jaxson? I suppose he’s all grown up now. And probably twice as hot. Hmm… on second thought, why don’t you tell me where he is? I’d be happy to make a deal with
him.”

Olivia’s heart lurched.
No, no, no.

But Gwen’s back stiffened. “The shifter is under my protection, Sybil Domina LeCroix. If you touch a hair on his head, you’ll be answering to
me.
And all the sisters of the Damon coven.”

“Ooooh, I see.” Sybil drew the words out. “Is that how it is? Have you developed a taste for wolf now, Guinevere?” She smirked, and it turned Olivia’s stomach. “Well, then, you can have the little heart-breaker… if you can handle him. All you have to do is let him sink those sexy fangs into you, dearie.”

“I’m not stupid, Sybil.” Gwen’s voice was ice cold. “I can read a curse. You’ve poisoned his bite.”

“Well,
yes…
his bite is certain to kill a mere
shifter.”
Sybil’s smirk grew even more menacing. “But you’re such a
powerful
witch, Guinevere Damon, I’m sure you could counter that magical poison easily enough.”

Olivia’s eyes went wide.
Was that true?

Gwen glared at Sybil. “You’re lying.”

Sybil fanned her fingers around her head. “Am I? Read my aura and tell me I’m leading a sister witch astray.” Her voice was purring, and it certainly
sounded
like a cagey lie.

But Olivia couldn’t read her aura at all.

Gwen was staring hard at the air around Sybil’s head. “You’re saying I could take the bite and survive?”

Sybil’s evil smile grew. “I’m saying, if you’re
truly
a powerful witch, Gwen dearie, you’d have a fair shot at fighting it off. The curse is only as strong as I am, after all. And you and your sisters in the Damon coven are all
so
much more powerful than little old me.” Her smirk settled into a cold challenge. “If you want the wolf…
take him.
And then we’ll see who’s the stronger witch.”

Gwen’s hand flexed and ball of blue energy swirled in it. “It’s truly a wonder no one’s yet turned you to ash, Sybil.”

She fluttered her thin fingers. “Kiss-kiss to you, too, Guinevere.” She dropped her voice. “Now get out of my office.”

Gwen gave her one last glare before turning on her heel and striding out of the tiny, one-room office. Olivia hurried after her, half expecting to get a bolt of witch magic in her back as she fled.

Once they were safely in the elevator, heading to the bottom floor, Olivia asked, “Was she telling the truth? Could a powerful enough witch take the bite and survive?”

“She was telling the truth,” Gwen said through her teeth. “But that’s not the kind of risk most witches are going to sign up for.
Especially
for a shifter.”

“Maybe not
most
witches,” Olivia said quietly.

Gwen slowly turned to her, eyes wide. “Do not…
no!
Olivia, you can’t even think about doing something like that!”

But Olivia
was
thinking about it. Even more, a plan was already forming in her mind.