Lost in Magic (Night Shadows Book 4) (13 page)

“Better let her go, earth witch,” Nico said. “Or I bet little Allison’s body hits the floor first.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Allison couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t sure if that was because of the arm crooked tightly around her throat, physically constricting her airway, or because of the dangerous vampire whose breath kept rolling over her shoulder. His mouth was much too close to her throat for comfort.

She’d seen first-hand what a vampire could do to a woman’s throat.

She didn’t want to wind up like Mandy.

Or Amanda Michaels.

Or the ship’s Captain.

Tears stung the backs of her eyes and she sought out Mick’s gaze, desperate for comfort. Desperate to see that everything would be all right. Surely Mick could get her out of this.
If he doesn’t…
It didn’t bear thinking about.

“Let her go,” Mick demanded, his glare fixed firmly on Nico. He was visibly angry. Allison wasn’t so sure that was comforting.

“You first,” Nico returned, drawing his words out tauntingly. He tightened the arm around Allison’s throat. “Or I could drop her right now.”

Allison gasped. Or she tried to. But the sound that came out was choked. She couldn’t take any air in. On reflex she reached up to grasp at the arm blocking her breathing, but she may as well have been tugging on a brick wall. She couldn’t budge more than the sleeve of his shirt.

“Fine.” Mick’s response was more growl than word, but he jerked his arm forward in a sharp, angry gesture and Tami stumbled once before hitting her knees, the dirt releasing her. Her deep, desperate breaths echoed through the room for a long second.

Allison had just long enough to feel a spark of envy at the woman’s ability to take in oxygen when the arm around her own throat loosened. Slightly.
What?

“Fool,” Nico said, a smug undertone in his voice.

No.
He’d played them. He wasn’t really going to release her!

Only the next sound that reached Allison’s ears, though it still came from Nico, was far less confident. Suddenly he was gurgling. A moment later the arm he held her with went completely lax.

Allison threw herself forward, straight into Mick’s arms, sucking in large, ragged breaths of delicious oxygen. Mick’s arms came around her, strong and sturdy, and she relished in the immediate sense of security that enveloped her. The vampire couldn’t touch her so long as Mick held her.

Something hit the ground with a muted
thud
, followed by a smaller
thud
, and moments later Tami let loose an ear-splitting scream.

Finally breathing somewhat properly, Allison lifted her head from Mick’s shoulder and turned to look at what had Tami screaming. Come to think of it, why wasn’t Nico attacking or something? What had Mick done to free her?

Her eyes widened at the bloodied sight before her. Nico’s body was crumpled, and already gray, on the ground. His head was several feet away, facing the other way, and a trail of blood mixed with dirt scattered the ground between head and shoulders. As she watched the visible flesh of Nico’s body continued to turn more and more ashen, developing aged wrinkles at a rapid rate.

Lifting her hand to her mouth, Allison looked away and squeezed her eyes shut. She could only imagine how Mick had managed that.

“Come on,” Mick said in her ear, “let’s get out of here before Tami’s screaming draws attention.”

Allison had no objections to that. Let the vampire-loving nurse deal with the rotting corpse on the ground. She did her best to look anywhere but at the body as Mick guided her quickly out the door, Tami’s screams having turned into sobs in their wake. They weren’t any closer to finding Boris, but the overall vampire threat had just taken a drastic dive.

So why didn’t she feel better about it?

****

Mick took Ali straight up to his room, knowing she would need a moment or several to gather herself. He had no idea where on the ship Rhea was but he wasn’t exactly worried about her. He was pretty sure she’d capsize the entire boat before she’d lose to a single vampire. And that was assuming she’d even
found
him. Mick’s priority was calming Allison and assuring himself that she was unharmed.

Nico had come far too close to hurting her for Mick’s sanity.

All along the way back to his room the image of Ali with Nico’s arm locked around her throat was all he could see. That, and the sneer on Nico’s lips. Nico had never suspected that Mick would be able to get one over on him.

In truth, it had been a risky move.

If he hadn’t acted fast enough Nico would have seen it coming and dodged. Or worse, he could have thrown Ali in the way of it. There was no way to tell the dirt
which
head to sever, after all. All he could do was think it and throw it forward at the right height, with enough force to slice through bone. Nico’s gaze had been switching between Tami and Mick. He hadn’t been watching close enough to pick up on the motion and he wasn’t smart enough, apparently, to recognize that Mick could possibly issue a command without speaking it.

Thank God he could.

“Shower,” Ali insisted almost as soon as the door to the room was shut behind them. She took Mick’s hand and moved toward the bathroom. “I need a shower. You’re going to join me.”

Well that was an invitation Mick couldn’t refuse. So he didn’t even try. He kept quiet until the bathroom door was locked behind them and Ali had released his hand in favor of turning on the water. She was bent just slightly and stretching to reach the faucet handles, presenting her denim covered ass beautifully. And suddenly he knew they wouldn’t have enough time. Not in the shower, not on this boat. Not at all.

But he shoved that thought aside and pulled the one condom he actually had on him from his pocket, setting it in easy reach on the small bathroom counter.

“Baby,” he said gently, “you’re safe now. You’re okay.”

“I feel dirty,” Allison replied, turning and peeling her shirt off. “Tainted. Contaminated. I swear I can still feel his filthy breath on my skin.”

Mick let his own shirt fall to the ground and stepped up to her, crowding her against the wall between counter and shower. He brought his hands up to her shoulders, pulled her into his chest, and plunged his tongue into her mouth. She moaned into the kiss and her nails curled into the muscles of his back. Her body arched into his, flattening her breasts over his chest, as she traced his tongue with hers.

This was more than just a result of the adrenaline and he was sure they both knew it.

He didn’t care.

Mick let his hands trail down her sides, to her hips, where he followed the path of denim to the snap that held her shorts up. Once they were loosened he slipped his fingers past the waistband, hooked her panties, and shoved. Ali laughed against his lips and dragged her hands down his back, sticking them into his pants in order to cup his ass. She made sure her nails curled into the flesh and he bucked forward, licking at her lips before sucking one into his mouth.

Ali’s hands came to rest on his hips and she pulled back, licking the lip he’d just held between his teeth. Keeping hold of his gaze with her own, she arched her back and reached around, unhooking her bra. She let her arms go lax and the bra fell to the floor, leaving her breathtakingly bare.

With one hand on his jaw in a ghost of a touch, she said, “If you want me, grab that condom and meet me in the shower.” She ducked out of his arms, then, and moved the curtain aside just enough to slip into the steaming shower.

Mick made short work of his remaining clothes, snatched the condom, and climbed in. The water was hot, adding fuel to the fire in his blood. But that was nothing compared to the sight of Allison smoothing her water-slicked hair over her shoulders.

She crooked a finger at him and he backed her against the tile wall until his cock was pressed into her thigh.

“We don’t have much time,” he murmured, his voice thick, as he trailed the fingers of his free hand up her torso. He caught her breast in his hand and kneaded the flesh around her nipple deliberately.

Allison looped her arms around his shoulders and slid one leg around the outside of his. “Then why are you stalling? Don’t you want me?”

Mick growled and caught her lips in another hard kiss. He released her breast with a firm flick at her nipple, freeing up his hand to work on sliding the unwrapped condom over his cock. Once it was in place he grabbed her hips and lifted her clear off the floor, never breaking the kiss. He kept his tongue rolling along hers, wringing moan after delicious moan from somewhere deep inside her.

Ali wrapped her legs around his hips without encouragement, one hand tangled in his hair. With her chest pressed flat into his and one arm braced on the wall for balance, Mick surged into her tight pussy. He filled her completely, letting his hips grind into hers for emphasis.

He wasn’t sure who broke the kiss, but their mutual groans of appreciation filled the air as his instincts took over. Mick let his kisses find her jaw and trail down the side of her throat as his hips began rocking against hers. He pulled out and plunged back in without hesitation, over and over, while the shower pelted them from above.

Allison started gasping and tightened her grip on him after a particularly hard grind. Her walls pulsed around his cock and he nipped at her shoulder as he snapped his hips a little harder. She cried out and he groaned against her skin. He was so close he could go over at any moment. But he wanted to be absolutely sure she would go over with him, so Mick grabbed hold of her hips, leaning into her chest to keep her against the wall.

She buried both hands in his hair and tightened her legs around him. Her body was tensing now, telling him how close she was.

Mick licked his way back up her throat until he’d caught her lips in another kiss, mimicking the motions of his hips with his tongue. In and out he thrust, as hard as he could manage. She was writhing against him, squirming as much as his grip allowed. And then he hit it.

Allison screamed into his mouth, her body arching sharply as her walls clenched tight around his cock. It was all he needed to burst and his climax exploded. Everything went white and his body took over, moving on auto-pilot to ride out the wave of ecstasy.

The kiss softened as his rhythm slowed. Ali’s grip loosened, her fingers picking up a soothing motion over his scalp.

Seconds, or maybe minutes, passed before Ali’s legs slowly slid from his hips.

Mick carefully withdrew from her and pulled her close. He pressed tender kisses to her temple and then her forehead before murmuring, “The only one allowed to taint you is me.”

Allison laughed softly against him, her arms looping around his torso. “I might just hold you to that,” she whispered.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Allison’s good mood lasted all the way until she and Mick stepped from the shower and her eyes landed on the black-haired woman on the sofa. How long Rhea had been sitting there was anybody’s guess. The realization sent a rush of embarrassment straight to Ali’s face. But if Mick felt the same, he was better at hiding it. Instead he came up to Allison’s side, an arm around her waist loosely, and he asked, “How did you get in exactly?”

“I had to flood your lock,” she replied calmly. “It’s not like I didn’t knock first.”

“And how do you expect me to
secure
my room?”

Rhea met his question with a glare and straightened. “More importantly, have you already dealt with this supposedly-powerful ancient vampire? Or did you decide getting laid was more important?”

Mick ground his teeth so hard Ali was sure she could hear it.

Instead of waiting for him to return verbal fire, Allison asked her own question. “Did you find anything?”

Rhea’s glare lingered on Mick before sliding to her. But it didn’t lose an ounce of accusation. “Just empty space and no more bodies. But security’s getting fidgety. I think word of the Captain’s death is spreading.”

“It was just a matter of time,” Mick said, guiding Ali to the sofa and sitting in the corner farthest from Rhea. He tugged Allison down beside him, so close that their entire thighs rubbed together. “We found Tami, but we couldn’t get anything from her. I did manage to decapitate the second vamp, though.”

Rhea rolled her shoulders as though they were stiff. “So we’re down to one. But we added a corpse to the mix. If Tami points the blame at you you’ll have a problem.”

“She won’t have any proof,” Mick said. “It’s not like I used a
weapon
.”

“Do you think she’d really do that?” Allison interrupted, frowning at the coffee table. “Wouldn’t that risk revealing her secret?”

Rhea shrugged. “She may not care.”

“Hopefully she does,” Mick added. He rubbed his hand up the length of Allison’s spine and gently said, “Either way, we’re running out of time. There’s been no word about the ship’s direction now that the Captain’s out. But there’s bound to be fall-out.”

“We stopped sailing,” Rhea said. “A few hours ago, actually.”

Allison turned widened eyes to her. “What? Why would they stop the ship?”

“That’s a good question,” Mick said. “I’d wager it’s not something to get our hopes up for, though.”

Allison shifted her attention to the man at her side. “What are you thinking?”

Mick was frowning thoughtfully when he said, “If it were me, I’d be scouring the ship as subtly as possible. Looking for anything amiss.”

“You mean like a decapitated corpse?” Rhea suggested. “Or a passenger who doesn’t belong?”

Mick sighed even as Allison swallowed heavily. She only had some very good points.

“Exactly,” Mick said. He turned a gaze toward Rhea and asked, “How far would you say we are from Baltimore port?”

Rhea offered a half-shrug. “If we’d kept sailing we’d probably be approaching the harbor now.”

“That’s not far,” Allison mumbled. For some reason that seemed like a bad thing. She just wished her instincts came with explanations.

“And we’re not long on time,” Mick said. “If this ship does make port Boris will be lost.”

“We’re wasting time having this conversation,” Rhea said, standing. “We should head out together and flush this vampire out of hiding.”

“How?” Allison asked. Hadn’t they already tried looking for him? Although, she had to admit, she may have derailed hers and Mick’s search. She’d been so shaken after the whole ordeal with Nico that she hadn’t given any thought to continuing the search. She’d just wanted to feel clean. And to feel the kind of security she’d only ever felt with Mick.

“The easiest way is with bait,” Rhea said plainly.

A chill crept in under Allison’s skin at the very word.

“No.” Mick’s response was firm, his opinion clear.

Rhea arched a brow at him. “You have a better idea? Because if
we
don’t set the trap, he will.”

Mick stood, taking advantage of the three or so inches he towered over her. “I said
no
.”

Rhea narrowed her eyes and held her ground. “I never said we had to use your girlfriend,
Thare
. But if you push me I’ll do it just to piss you off.”

Mick’s voice was tight when he asked, “Then who
did
you have in mind?”

Allison blinked up at the arguing witches before her. “Who the hell is Thare?”

Rhea released a breath, as though greatly burdened, and took a single step backward. “Why don’t you educate her while I go dig up the bait. We’ll rendezvous at the breakfast hall.”

“But the breakfast hall is closed now,” Allison said slowly. And realization dawned as soon as the words were past her lips.
Of course!
The breakfast hall was on the restaurant level, but it would be empty. A big, empty space in a crowd. That was as good as they were likely going to get in terms of getting Boris alone and on their terms.

Rhea was already walking toward the door. “Just be there in twenty minutes if you want any credit for this job.”

“Rhea,” Mick called. But it was too late. She’d let herself out without a backward glance.

Releasing a breath, Allison looked back to Mick. “I know I’m still new to a lot of this,” she said, “but who’s Thare? Is that the name you call yourself for your work?”

Mick reclaimed his seat beside her and inclined his head. “I take it she explained that we don’t use our given names.”

“She did.” And while it had occurred to Allison to wonder what name Mick
did
use, she’d been admittedly much more curious about what Rhea’s real name was.

“I go by Thare,” he confirmed. “In part because I’m uninventive. It’s just an anagram of ‘earth’, picked for obvious reasons.”

Allison smiled with a flicker of amusement. “That is kind of silly when you point it out. But I wouldn’t have gone there on my own.”

Mick grinned. “I guess that’s something.” He leaned close and pressed a lingering kiss to her temple before releasing another heavy breath. “I’m worried about what poor soul Rhea’s targeted for bait. We probably should get to that hall early.”

“This whole ‘bait’ thing,” Allison said carefully, “she’s not going to kill someone, is she?” Somehow Allison suspected that Rhea subscribed to that whole “break a few eggs to make an omelet” theory.

“I hope not,” Mick replied, standing and holding out a hand to her. “But to be honest, I have no idea. Rhea and I have never actually worked a job together before.”

“I can’t say that surprises me,” Ali admitted as she allowed Mick to help her up. “But how will we even get into the breakfast hall? It’s not exactly wide open.” And lock-picking wasn’t anywhere near her skill set.

“Let’s go find out.”

****

“So where is Allison?” Warner asked, feeling skeptical as he followed the woman who’d called herself Rhea into the abandoned breakfast hall.
Come to think of it, how’d we even get in?
The hall was deserted. And with all the lights off it was kind of eerie. But Rhea had promised him that Allison wanted to meet with him.

“She’s on her way,” Rhea replied. She moved to a table near the banister that opened to a wide ocean view and sat with her back to the sea. She crossed one long leg over the other at the knee and rested one hand on the table, the picture of patience. Except her eyes. Warner saw something else flickering beneath that odd shade of blue. Something he didn’t trust.

“You’re sure?” he asked, arching a brow.

“You’re free to leave if you don’t trust me,” Rhea said. Her expression remained entirely impassive. “I’ll just tell her you weren’t interested.”

Warner scowled and moved to lean against the bizarrely empty buffet bar. “No, I’ll wait.”
For now.

“What the hell is this?”

The question caught Warner by surprise and he turned, straightening at the sight of the man who’d stolen Allison’s interest. Mick. Nothing he’d been able to think of so far had managed to get the man away from her. Apparently he still hadn’t budged. But at least Allison herself stood at Mick’s side, eyeing him carefully. Actually, she looked as surprised as her precious boyfriend.

“Warner? What are you—?” Allison cut herself off and averted her gaze, looking past him. “You can’t be serious!”

“That’s a lousy greeting, Allison,” Warner said, stepping forward and ignoring Mick. “You’re the one who asked me to meet you here.”

“She did no such thing,” Mick said shortly, making a show of taking Allison’s hand.

Warner lifted his own glare to the other man, but before he could say a word something sharp was slicing across his arm. He cried out and looked down, seeing what looked like a switchblade covered in blood pulling away from a new gash on his arm. A badly bleeding gash.

“Rhea!” Allison exclaimed, shock and horror in her voice.

“Son of a bitch!” Warner shouted, instinctively clamping a hand over his arm. “You fucking cut me! What the hell’s the matter with you?”

Rhea tossed a fish-themed kitchen towel at him and wiped the blood off her blade on
his
clothes. He flinched away, but not fast enough. The blade was practically clean when she flicked it shut. “Wrap your arm with that, you’ll be fine,” she said. Far too casually.

“Seriously, Rhea,” Mick said as Warner fumbled with the towel. “
This
is your plan? This is crazy.”

“You weren’t coming up with anything better,” Rhea said, propping a hand on her hip. She didn’t seem to care at all about what she’d just done.

Warner held the towel as tight as he dared around his arm and looked between Rhea and Mick. Mick looked upset, frustrated, but not overly concerned. Then again Warner wouldn’t have expected to get any sympathy from the man. He gave his arm a subconscious squeeze and looked over to Allison. She, at least, was focused on his wound.

“You’re lucky you didn’t hit an artery,” Allison scolded as she moved toward Warner. She looked him in the eyes, then, and added, “And you need to make a tourniquet until you can get that looked at.”

Fighting against the pain in order to keep his voice civil, Warner asked, “What do you suggest?”

Allison sighed and looked back to his arm. “Belts are effective.”

Warner couldn’t help the smirk. “This is hardly the time to get flirty,” he said.

“You son of a bitch,” Mick snapped, his voice angry. “She’s
not
flirting.”

“No,” a new, male voice declared with mild amusement. Warner looked over and his gaze landed on the old man who’d come looking for Allison the other day as he kept speaking. “She’s actually giving you good advice. I, on the other hand, have a very different suggestion.”

****

Allison jumped and turned, finding Mick at her back with a steady hand even as her gaze landed on the very man they were hunting. Boris the vampire. Their plan had worked. And quickly.
Too quickly.

Boris shifted his attention then to Rhea with an amused smile. “You’re new,” he said. “You must have unfortunate luck to get dragged into our battle at this late hour.”

“It’s a matter of perspective, vampire,” Rhea returned, her voice colder than Allison had ever heard it.

“
What
?” Warner asked.

Mick cut a glare to Warner and made a “move back” gesture with his hand. “You stay back and you might just survive this.” Nothing in his tone indicated that he particularly cared one way or the other. Allison imagined he was having a hard time feeling protective of Rhea’s chosen bait.

“Oh, that’s not likely,” Boris said. “I haven’t fed all day, and I’m upset enough to tear you
all
apart.”

“Then I guess you should start with me,” Mick said, taking a step away from Allison. “I’m the one who took out Nico.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Boris said, narrowing his eyes in a chilling glare. “An earth witch. I honestly wasn’t expecting that. But Tami was very informative.”

Allison swallowed heavily.
This is it.
For better or worse, this was the final confrontation. The fight they’d been building toward. She hadn’t imagined that Warner would bear witness to it or that it would happen quite this … casually, but here it was. And all she wanted to do was curl up against Mick’s back and close her eyes to will it away. But that wasn’t an option. She had to at least pretend to be brave.

She really hadn’t ever wanted anything else to do with vampires. And yet here she was, face-to-face with one. One somehow even more frightening than the guy Seth had had in his condo when Allison had gone barging in to confront them.

“Take a step, vampire,” Rhea said, her voice even. Calm. Deadly. “And I’ll split you clear in half.”

Boris’s lips twitched and he laughed. The sound was filled with genuine amusement. “I assume you’re a witch as well,” he said after a beat. “But no matter your element, no matter your rank, you don’t frighten me. You’re just a petulant child.”