Light Beyond the Darkness (22 page)

“Wh-what do you mean?” Taste her magic? She didn’t understand, but she had no doubt it was not something she wanted to experience.

The hooded figure reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly for a moment, before frowning. “You are not giving me your magic,” he stated.

“I—I don’t know what you mean,” Carley stuttered.

“It is how my followers sustain me,” he explained. “I must live underground, so I am not discovered by our enemies. The only way I can do so is if my followers feed me with their magic.”

Carley knew it was possible to share magic. The history books told of soldiers going off to war, back before they’d moved to the hidden coterie, and how their mates would give them magic to help sustain them and protect them. She had not heard of anyone deliberately sharing their magic outside of what the books claimed. She had no idea how to purposely give someone her magic, and frankly she had no desire to do so.

“Just push your magic through our connection,” the Chosen One explained, holding up the hand he held in his own. “It’s the polar opposite of healing. Go on. Try it,” he urged.

Carley tugged her hand free. “No,” she said, sounding far braver than she felt.

Miguel grabbed her hand and held it out before her, inviting the hooded figure to hold it again, but he shook his head.

“It will not work. If she does not wish to share her magic, it is actually quite difficult to do so. I have plenty for tonight. It was a pleasure to meet you, Carley Santiago.”

* * * *

“I—I’ve never done it,” Carley qualified. “Not on purpose, just like Olivia and Cecilia said.”

“But?” Reid prompted.

She wanted to help, she really did. But she did not want anyone to know how she knew a skill that had been lost five hundred years ago when the lightbearers went into hiding and no longer
needed
to share their magic. She did not want anyone to believe she supported the evil Chosen One in any way, shape, or form.

“I…I understand how it is done.”

“Really?” Alexa breathed the word, her eyes wide, her entire body rigid with excitement. Alexa was a healer who rarely came across a patient she could not fix, and Carley knew Olivia and Tanner’s pup had already become very dear to her.

Carley’s breath came out as a white cloud as she expelled air and waved at the infant swaddled in blankets. “It’s—it’s the opposite of healing. You actually push your magic into his system, instead of pulling the pain and sickness away. There has to be some sort of physical connection. You—you have to want to do it, or else it won’t work. You cannot force lightbearers to share their magic.”

“Of course,” Alexa murmured as her gaze shifted back to the pup and his mother. “Try it, Olivia,” she commanded. “I think Carley is on to something.”

Olivia glanced at Tanner and then looked down at the sleeping infant. She touched her hand to his chest and said, “I just concentrate on my magic and push it through my hand?”

“I think so,” Carley said dubiously. She’d seen it done at that meeting, but at the time had considered herself lucky that the Chosen One had not tried to force her to share. He was the one who told her it was nearly impossible to make a lightbearer share their magic.

Olivia closed her eyes, and the small gathering watched as she concentrated all of her energy, all of her magic, on her son. Her hand began to glow, and they crowded around the cab of the truck, to hide the bright light from passing humans.

As everyone watched, the glow slowly transferred from Olivia’s hand to the pup’s chest, where it flared for a moment before slowly dissipating. Not a being breathed as the infant stirred and then blinked open big blue eyes. He wheezed and sputtered for a few seconds…And then he began to breathe all on his own. Olivia slowly removed her hand and brought it to her mouth, as tears sprang to her eyes.

Her pup was going to live.

When they returned to the beach house, Olivia, Tanner, Alexa, and the infant retired upstairs. Alexa insisted upon a thorough examination of the babe before she would leave the relieved family to their own devices. The king and queen and Tanner’s mother chattered excitedly amongst themselves as they hurried to check on their grandson.

Carley clung to Reid’s side, still feeling on edge about running into Miguel earlier in the day. He did not seem to mind, and in fact, appeared perfectly content to keep his arm looped around her shoulder, even after they’d taken seats on the large, wraparound couch in the entertainment room, while Finn headed to the bar tucked into the corner and made drinks for everyone. Mica stepped through the hidden door leading to the kitchen, bearing a tray of snacks. Reid and Finn both stared at the food with such intensity, Carley snickered. She well remembered that look from her time as head chef in these kitchens.

“You still won’t consider staying?” Cecilia asked as she accepted a glass of wine from Finn. He handed a second glass to Carley, and a bottle of beer to Reid.

Mica offered the platter of food. Reid pulled his arm from around Carley’s shoulders and began piling bite-sized appetizers onto a small plate.

Carley took advantage of the distraction to gather her thoughts. Now that she had confirmation Miguel was alive, she knew the right thing to do was tell Finn and Tanner that not only was he still alive, but he was still inside the coterie. She watched Reid devour food almost as quickly as he added it to his plate and mentally shook her head. Not now. Not in front of Reid.

“I can’t,” she finally responded to Cecilia. “I have obligations. They’re counting on me, at the restaurant.”

“You had obligations here, once, too,” Cecilia said, her voice gentle. “We would love for you to come back. Permanently.” Her gaze slid to Reid. “And Reid, too.”

“There’s definitely a position for you, within the king’s guard,” Finn added, while he too filled a plate with food. “A pretty high-up position, I’d wager. We’ve already caught the kids who were behind the latest attacks,” he added for the benefit of the rest of the inhabitants of the room. “Reid figured it out, actually.”

“It was Josh and I working together,” Reid qualified.

Carley thought about her run-in with Miguel. She could not stay in the coterie.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t.” She was about to open her mouth to suggest that Reid could stay, if he wanted, even though it would break her heart if he did.

“We’re going back to Chicago,” he said, with a finality that left no room for argument.

* * * *

Later that evening, Carley and Reid retired to their bedchamber. Reid stripped out of his clothing and climbed into bed, while Carley went into the bath chamber to do her bedtime routine.

“What’s the deal with your magic anyway?” he called out, his voice drifting through the partially opened door.

“What do you mean?”

“How come you were the only one who knew Olivia could share it with her pup? Even the healer didn’t know.”

Carley hesitated. She was mildly surprised no one else had asked such a question. She spoke carefully when she responded.

“It used to be common practice, hundreds of years ago. Back when we feared your kind, instead of slept with you,” she said with an impish grin, as she entered the bedchamber and tried to make light of the conversation.

Reid’s hungry gaze watched her walk across the room, dressed in a short, silken robe. She tugged at the sash and the robe fell open, revealing that she was utterly naked underneath. His eyes blazed as he drank in the sight of her body. She could feel the anticipation, thick and heavy in the air. It was a heady feeling, knowing she affected him like this.

When she was close enough, he snagged her around the waist and flipped her over onto her back on the bed. As he loomed over her, she sucked in her breath, but it wasn’t out of fear any longer. It was sexual tension, excitement. She wanted this man more than she’d ever wanted anything else in her life. A sliver of pain sliced through the excitement as she thought that she could never truly have him.

Especially now that she knew without a doubt Miguel was still alive.

*

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he frowned and sat back on his haunches, trying not to crowd her. He’d thought her issues had been eradicated, but the mix of feelings coursing through her system at the moment told him otherwise.

She shook her head and shifted her gaze to the side. He scooped her up and pulled her into his lap. She curled up there, like a child, except his thoughts were not at all pure and heartwarming. Not when she clung to him like this, as if she needed to touch him just to take her next breath. While he appreciated that, especially because he often felt the same way about her, he did not think it was because she was horny and wanted to have sex right at that moment.

“Tell me,” he commanded gruffly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. “Nothing, really,” she insisted. “I just like…being with you, that’s all. You make me feel good about myself.”

He stroked her back. “You should feel good about yourself,” he responded. “You’re a very special person, Carley,” he murmured as he continued to stroke. “I want to tell you about how I got the scars,” he said, and his hold tightened when she stiffened. “It’s important to me that you know. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”

“You don’t have to,” she insisted. “I know it must be painful to talk about.”

“Not as much as it used to be.” It was the truth. Since Carley had come into his life, the pain and humiliation he’d experienced at Quentin’s hand had been dulled, and didn’t seem nearly as important anymore. It happened; it shouldn’t have, but it no longer controlled his life.
He
controlled his life, and he wanted that life to involve Carley.

He wanted to mate with her. But first, he needed to tell her, to make sure she was willing to accept him, mistakes and all.

“There was a girl. The pack master’s fling. He wasn’t loyal to his mate. They had separate bedrooms, and his was a revolving door. Tanner probably has half a dozen half siblings running around out there somewhere.”

She made a halfhearted attempt to get him to stop talking about it, and he appreciated her concern, but he wanted to do this. It was important to their future.

“Usually, I hardly noticed the girls that came and went. Everybody knew they were strictly off-limits. If Quentin found out you were messing with one of his lays, well, I can tell you from firsthand experience what he’d do.” He grimaced as his back tingled with phantom pains.

“You slept with the pack master’s girlfriend?” She asked the question, looked curious, despite her insistence that he didn’t need to tell the story.

“I didn’t mean to, at first. Hell, she wasn’t even my type.”

“What is your type?”

He grinned. “You.”

He liked the way her cheeks pinked and she rolled her eyes, looking pleased and flustered at the same time.

“She came on to me. Said she was bored with Quentin. Wanted to hook up with someone younger. The problem with being Quentin’s girlfriend was, you couldn’t end it. You were stuck in the position until he decided he was done with you.

“Anyway, I should have said no. I did, at first. But she kept pushing me, kept flirting…” He trailed off, deciding she didn’t need the long version of how Ginger had seduced him.

“Quentin walked in on us. We had been so caught up in the moment that we didn’t hear him return to the house.” He shifted his gaze away, looked toward the nearest window, at the darkened sky outside. “He made me lie on his pool table, had two of his cronies hold me down, while he whipped me with my own belt.” He said the words in a rush, to get them out, and flinched when she gasped, when he felt her inner turmoil.

“Oh, Reid…”

“It’s been five years. Long enough. I’m ready to move on, to put it behind me. To look forward to the future.”

Carley twisted in his lap, so that her legs were wrapped around his waist. Tears shimmered in her beautiful blue eyes and her lush bottom lip pouted. “I’m so sorry.”

He trailed his hands up her thighs, over her waist, and curled his arms around her back. “I know. But I don’t want you to be sorry. I just want you to be mine, and not leave me because of what I did.”

“What you did?” She sounded confused.

“I slept with someone else’s girlfriend. Whether I deserved the punishment or—”

“You didn’t,” she insisted.

“That’s beside the point. I never should have hooked up with Ginger in the first place. I should have said no. I don’t want you to think less of me because I didn’t.”

The tears spilled onto her cheeks, and her eyelashes fluttered down to hide her eyes. “I don’t,” she said quietly.

He used his thumbs to brush away the tears. “Carley, I want to mate with you.”

Her gaze flew up to his, and her eyes widened, while her mouth formed a perfect
O
. For several long moments, nothing at all happened. Then she gave him a push, and he fell back against the bed. He knew his eyes were glowing, a sign of his excitement. She hadn’t said yes, but the way she leaned forward and kissed his lips, then his chin, covered with several days’ worth of stubble, told him she was turned on, caught up in the moment. He would need her assent, both verbal and physical, eventually, but for now, he was happy to let her take the lead.

She kissed his ear, tugging gently with her teeth. He groaned and closed his eyes, savoring the feeling, the intensity of his reaction to her. She slowly began to shimmy down his body, kissing a path from his face down to his chest, where she tentatively licked one of his nipples. He sucked in a harsh breath, and his hands squeezed her backside, letting her know without words that he liked it. She did it again. And again.

But she did not stop there. She shimmied farther, delivering kisses to the dark trail of hair that led down to his twitching erection. He held his breath when she hovered over his dick, eyeing it with trepidation.

“You don’t have to,” he rasped, even though he wanted her to. Desperately.

She looked up at him.

“You don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do.”