Life Cycle (3 page)

He shook his head. “You know there is only so much
I’m allowed to interfere. Read your cards again, and really see
them this time. The whole spread.”

Tam opened her eyes and sat up
inside the circle. The candles still burned, and she quickly blew
them out. Then she laughed. The energy required for the magic may
have knocked her out, but her spell had worked. She
was
two thousand after
all. Her bags were tiny now, each hardly bigger than a thimble. She
gathered them up and put them into a freezer bag, then put them,
along with the magic book, candles, and salt into a shoulder bag.
Nothing beat traveling like a witch.

Her cards were packed already or
she’d do another reading. She turned away from the cage and took
her single bag to the kitchen to make another cup of Earl Grey and
wait for whoever
he
was.

She didn’t have to wait long. Half an hour later
there was a knock on the door. She slung her bag over her shoulder
and went to answer. Standing on the other side were an unlikely
pair: Anna and Cain. Death and her best friend, delivered right to
her door. Anna was looking mildly transparent and ghostly without
her demon mate there to keep her solid. She was also looking mildly
angry.

“Does our friendship mean
nothing
to you? How
could you keep a secret like this from me?” She attempted to smack
Tam on the arm, but her hand went right through. Sometimes that
ghost thing was a good thing.

Tam decided to play dumb, even though there was only
one giant secret she’d been keeping from her friend. “What
secret?”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Seriously? We’re really doing
this? I know what you are.”

The witch couldn’t help a quick
glance at Cain. Why did the foul, evil demon have to be so hot? He
had that dark, savage look going. Long, dark hair, dark eyes, dark
skin. Her rational mind told her he was hot to catch prey and she
was falling right into his web, but damn, she was human and he
was...
Wait, did he just arch an eyebrow
at me?
She was probably telegraphing her
emotions right at him.

“Tam!”

She turned back to Anna. “Okay, great, you know what
I am. You couldn’t even handle basic witch stuff. You said you
didn’t want to know about it. How would this truth-telling
experiment have gone down?” Tam put on an affected mock-voice, “So,
Anna, I know you hate hearing about magic stuff because you’re a
pansy, but I’m really almost two thousand years old. Ask me
anything about anything.”

“I don’t know. I just felt like I should have known.
What about when you told me the other magic stuff? You couldn’t
have told me then? Or when we were together in Cary Town around
Halloween? What about then? You couldn’t have found an opening to
tell me the truth?”

Tam looked down. “My coven doesn’t
even know. Anna, I have to hide and lie to live. Okay? Not
everything is about you.” Though she was debating the point of
living again, lately. Was Jack even after her? Maybe it was just a
danger with Cain in her cards. He
was
evil. And a killer.

“Girls. Please. We have to move now. The
Cycler could be hunting her as we speak.”

“The Cycler?” Tam asked.

Another eye roll from Anna. “Are you going to playact
like you don’t know you’re being hunted?”

“No, but, how do you guys know about him?”

Cain pulled her out of the house, ignoring her
question. “There’s no time to pack. You’ll have to make do. You’re
coming to the demon dimension, and don’t try your little energy
ball trick. I’m not in the mood.”

Wait, he wanted to protect her? Since when?

When he touched her, she thought she’d swoon right
there like some damsel in distress. Nobody should have that kind of
sexual magnetism. At least it would make dying in his arms less
repulsive. But she couldn’t bring that up now, not with Anna here.
She wouldn’t understand.

For now, Tam had to just go along. They might think
they could protect her, but staying in one place was unsafe, and if
Jack succeeded... No. Tam wouldn’t let him. It was best to end the
cycle. What they’d done was unnatural. It went against the order of
things. One of them going mad and the others becoming his victims
was nature’s way of righting that wrong. Who was she to call
foul?

Tam pulled away, and to her surprise, he let her go,
a wary look on his face. She gestured to her shoulder bag. “Already
packed. I’m like twelve steps ahead of you.” She didn’t mention
that she could have already left and been out of Cain’s reach. Her
curiosity over Henry’s words had won out over personal safety. The
raven had never led her wrong before.

Was Henry confirming her suspicion that now was the
time to go, and she’d chosen her executioner wisely? Any other
interpretation was unthinkable.

She took one last look at her house and locked the
door behind her, even though everything of value—real and
imagined—was in her shoulder bag.

They walked a few blocks until they reached the
Golatha Falls forest. Once inside the woods, Anna spilled
everything about the meeting. Cain remained uncharacteristically
silent. Tam couldn’t help looking over her shoulder as they went,
as if Jack could somehow track them if he was being talked about.
His power must be that dark and strong by now.

When the portal shimmered in front of them, Cain took
her hand and pulled her through. The portal only recognized demons
and apparently demon mates, since Anna had no trouble herself, but
then she was linked to Luc through strong blood magic, her soul
tied irrevocably to him.

Tam’s eyes widened when she entered the demon
dimension. She’d heard about it, but she’d never seen it. Her mouth
dropped open. “This place is so beautiful.” Certainly not what she
expected, even if she’d always known it wasn’t full of fire and
brimstone.

Cain smiled with something like pride as Tam
continued to take in the scene before her. The weather was perfect,
the sky dark and clear with brilliant stars shining overhead,
glowing with brightness equivalent to the moon. There was no moon,
but then, this wasn’t Earth. For all she knew—and she highly
suspected this was true—the stars were some kind of illusion made
entirely from magic. Though maybe technically everything in
existence was an illusion made from magic.

Stretching endlessly before her was
sand and cobblestone streets lit by torchlight. Colorful tents made
of rich, expensive fabrics lined the streets as far as the eye
could see. There was a marketplace and music and laughter.
Seductive
laughter.

A scantily clad woman danced to the music while a
couple of males encouraged her. The woman felt human; the males,
demon.

Tam turned sharp eyes on the demon leader, suspicion
growing over what she was witnessing.

“Jackson likes to play with his food,” Cain said
with a shrug. “He likes to make them dance.”

“Gross.”

His expression hardened. “Don’t come to my dimension
and judge us. I should kill you rather than protect you. Do you
know how much trouble your kind causes for mine? You represent our
one true enemy, and I’ve chosen to keep you safe from the
temporary, bigger threat. I might not continue to feel so generous
if you don’t watch that mouth.”

Anna was still with them, so she
couldn’t tell Cain what she really felt. She closed her eyes and
dropped the shields she used to protect herself from demon thrall
and sent a strong wave of feelings to him.
He couldn’t read her exact thoughts,
but he’d get the gist of her death wish.

The demon’s eyes widened, but he gave nothing of the
exchange away. “You will have your own tent,” he said, stopping in
front of a exquisite purple tent that must be hers. His gaze
shifted to Anna and then back to Tam. “I’ll have a couple of my
demons guarding you around the clock. They’ll go in shifts. Anna,
you can go back to your mate now.”

“What? No. I can’t leave her here with you.”

“She’s a big girl. She doesn’t need a
babysitter.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Tam said. “And I have to speak to him
privately, anyway.”

“Yes, I need to learn more about The Cycler,” Cain
said.

“But why can’t I stay for that?”

The demon leader took a threatening
step toward the brunette. “You are one of us now. That doesn’t just
mean the perks of this world, but the responsibilities as well.
When I say
jump
,
you ask
how high
?”

“Luc wouldn’t let you hurt me. And... y-you can’t
touch me.”

“Do you really want to be on my shit list? I’m eight
thousand. Waiting for you to come into your powers is nothing to
me. When that happens, your mate won’t be able to stop me. Or I
could just take it out on him. Now run along to my brother and cry
about what a Big Bad Wolf I am.”

Anna looked over at Tam, her eyes revealing her
internal struggle.

“Go,” Tam said.

When Anna was a safe distance away, the witch turned
to Cain and looked him right in the eyes. “I need you to kill me
now.”

“I assumed as much. Care to tell me why—not that I’d
ever turn down such a powerful meal. You weren’t suicidal the last
time I met you. You were prepared to back us up in a war against
Anthony.”

Tam flopped down on one of the thick, cushioned
pillows on the ground, preparing to be much more honest than she
was comfortable with. If she wanted him to agree to this, she had
to lay all her cards out on the table.

“It’s different now. Jack will find me. It’s not a
question. What you said about the meeting only confirms it. You may
think I’m safe here, but anything could happen to end that safety.
You’re old enough and strong enough to kill me. I may be strong,
but he’s stronger. He’s killed so many of us now that I can’t fight
him by myself. And I’m so tired of running and cycling. I didn’t
know what I was asking for when I asked for eternal life.”

Cain crossed to a side bar and poured himself a
drink. He raised the decanter and arched a brow in question, but
Tam shook her head. The demon shrugged and put it down. He extended
a hand and she took it, allowing him to guide her to the couch
where they could sit together.

As his hand trailed along her collarbone, she
tried not to pull away and equally not to want him so much. His
gaze was assessing, evidence he’d done this millions of
times.

“Exactly how old are you?” he asked.

“Closing in on two thousand.”

“Shit.” He took a drink.

She fought to keep the tears at bay. She wouldn’t
display such weakness in front of him. “I don’t know how you do
this. This is hell. I can’t imagine as long as you’ve been—”

“The difference in you and I is that I didn’t choose
this.”

Tam looked away. “Are you going to lecture me now on
my foolishness? I was young and stupid. I’d been taken into a
secret magical order and was so proud of myself and what I’d
achieved. I had no concept of the powers I was playing with or what
I was asking for.”

Cain downed the rest of the brandy and put the
snifter on the ground, then eased closer. His nearness made her
heart flutter. He was the perfect predator, with prey that begged
to be taken. She’d put her shields back up—force of habit. But even
without thrall, his effect on a mere human could still be
intoxicating.

“I prefer longer hair,” he said conversationally,
his hand moving to the back of her neck.

She got chills as he stroked her skin, but she
couldn’t let that comment lie there. “Well, let me grow it out real
quick while we wait for a psycho to gruesomely murder me and take
over the world. I’m glad to see you have your priorities in
line.”

He laughed. “I don’t know if I hate you or admire
you. I don’t normally let anyone speak to me like that.”

Tam flicked her wrist, turning her palm up, and
focused her energy into a point of purple light that grew into an
energetic ball that hissed like live electricity. “You think you
can take me?”

“I think you’ve been touching yourself since the day
you met me, dreaming about it,” the demon said, switching to
innuendo that would have made him sound like a self-important
jackass except for the fact that he probably brought to the table
everything he implied and more.

She swallowed around the lump in
her throat and found herself captured in his dark gaze. The energy
ball whimpered and died in her hand. At least
she
hadn’t whimpered.

“That’s better,” he said. “I’m glad to see you’ve
managed some manners in light of this favor I’m doing you.”

In any other situation, it would
have been about the most offensive thing he could say, but
he
was
doing her
a favor. It wasn’t the favor of his precious presence or sex with
him; it was the favor of a painless death to help her escape her
pursuer and break the cycle she’d been trapped in for so long she
wanted to stop counting the years.

“Tell me, to satisfy my curiosity before we do this,
how exactly did you pull it off? How did you become immortal?”

She had no choice but to tell him. If she didn’t tell
him, he wouldn’t give her what she wanted. “Jack was our leader. He
was the one who was obsessed with it. We call it the fountain of
youth now, but even before that version of the legend, there were
stories about waters that gave eternal life. We found it, deep
inside a cavern: a saltwater pool. Down in the depths, in the dark,
we found this jellyfish that didn’t die.”