Magic Resistant (19 page)

“I’ve seen his grimoire.” She quietly said.
Shame threatened to choke her, a hard lump in her throat she forced
down, as she admitted this terrible deed.

Mages never, ever looked through another
mage’s grimoire. A huge invasion of privacy, it was worse than
reading someone’s diary, and simply wasn’t done. As a mage grew in
power, his collection of spells also grew. Most wrote them down,
making notations of how to cast a certain spell, how to shape the
energy and any variations made.

There were, of course, public records of
spells detailing how much energy to use, which spell component,
etc. Junior Enforcers as well as civilian mages had access to this
information. Senior Enforcers added yearly to the collection, but
only spells known to work without flaws. Any experimental ones
stayed in a personal grimoire until perfected.

“You did what?!” His mouth dropped and she
wondered if he was rethinking his decision of trusting her. Then
again, why should he trust her? She’d done nothing but lie to him,
even if by omission.

“I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve felt
horrible about it ever since.” She lowered her head, hiding her
face with her hair. “It was about fifteen years ago. Spells were so
hard. I just wasn’t getting it. He made it look so easy. I’d
already accessed my magic, so that wasn’t the issue. I thought
maybe, perhaps, he had shortcuts written down. Something, anything
that would help me.”

Her fingers twisted together, nervousness and
fear eating at her. How could he want her after this? Maybe the
Coterie was right and she was defective.

No, they were wrong. She wasn’t a disease to
be eradicated. She made mistakes, same as everyone else. It didn’t
make her evil.

Straightening her shoulders, she continued,
“I read through his whole book. He had nothing in there about the
Devouring Plague. Most of his spells illusion based. Since I’m not
strong in illusions, they weren’t much use to me.”

Jackson gathered her in his arms, his heart
thudding against her ear, steady and strong. That small,
heartwarming gesture showed his lack of censor over her
actions.

A tiny sob, a tear down her cheek and the dam
broke open inside of her. She buried parts of herself in a deep
grave, her worst sins covered with mounds of dirt. But it was
suffocating her, cutting off the necessary air to breathe. Half a
person, smiling through the pain, pretending it didn’t hurt.

He accepted her now, but would he if she told
him everything? Would he love someone deemed an abomination?

Keeper always emphasized how important it was
to keep quiet, to hide her true self. Was she truly that awful? Had
her friend deserved death at such a young age, when she’d scarcely
begun to live? How long would she have to live this lie? A mage’s
life span easy surpassed several millennia and she was barely into
her fourth decade.

So hard she tried to forget what she was, to
steal a little bit of normalcy for herself. It was selfish, yes,
and in the end she would hurt both her and Jackson.

She didn’t have the strength to push him away
and ignore how alive she felt with him. An impossibility.

His acceptance became a craving deep inside.
For once she wanted someone who love her unconditionally. When he
found out, though, their love would wither. He’d hate her for her
lies, would despise her for being broken.

Her tears came on stronger. Great sobs
wracked her body as she poured her soul out into those wet drops.
Everything she wanted to say came out silently as she mourned the
death of their future. He just held her. He seemed to know words
couldn’t help her right now. Lovingly, he stroked her hair and when
the crying lessened, he gave her a tender kiss on the forehead.

Pressed against his chest, she hid her face,
ashamed of her red eyes, puffy nose and tear-streaked cheeks. His
gentleness almost triggered another bout of crying, but she firmly
told herself to get it together. Enforcers valued strength,
physically, mentally and magically. Breakdowns a sigh of weakness
and not tolerated.

The last time she’d cried - the day of
Irene’s death. Even then, she waited, wanting complete privacy to
mourn.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, hoping he
wouldn’t ask her the cause of her breakdown. She had no way of
explaining it. The thought of more lies glued her tongue to the
roof of her mouth. He’d heard enough of them from her.

Pain registered, breaking through the
swirling mass of sorrow. Flexing her fingers, she unclenched her
fists. Small crescents on her palms mocked her. Little smiley
faces, happy with their lot in life, no fears dragging them under
the surface. Had she ever been carefree?

She rested her palm on his waist, a light
touch connecting her to Jackson and reinforced her resolve.

She couldn’t give him up. Refused to give him
up. Even though it hurt, she’d continue the same farce with Jackson
she had with Markus. She’d been lying to Markus for as long as she
could remember about her abilities. What did it matter if she did
the same with Jackson?

It does matter
. A treacherous part of
her hissed back. She ruthlessly crushed that voice, determined to
enjoy her time with him, no matter how fleeting.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” He responded,
smoothing her hair from her face. “I shouldn’t have pushed you so
hard about Markus. I keep forgetting not everyone is corrupt.
There’re good Enforcers out there who want the truth.”

Jackson thought she was crying about Markus?
Guilt stabbed her as she recalled they’d been speaking about Markus
before she broke down.

Great, now he probably thought she cried to
get her own way when nothing could be further from the truth.
Sniffing, she gained control of her wayward emotions, locking them
up tight. They had no time for her to break down. There was too
much to do: talk to Dawn; find Markus and convince him to help;
figure out which werewolves broke the Treaty and was hunting
humans; and find out who framed Jackson. Well geez, put like that,
it certainly sounded easy, huh?

Julia’s head hurt, both from crying and from
realizing how much they still had to accomplish. At least talking
to Dawn would be simple. They’d see each other in the next few
hours.

“I don’t want you to think I’m using tears to
get my way. I’m honestly not. If you feel we can’t trust Markus
then I’ll concede to your wishes.” She kept her voice steady to
show she wasn’t using emotional blackmail. She held her breath
though.

Markus was their best chance of getting
answers. A high level Enforcer, he had access to databases she
couldn’t begin to guess at, never mind the amount of informants on
his payroll. She’d even heard whispers he had Fae snitches, a
xenophobic bunch. However, as she said, he didn’t blindly follow
everything the Coterie said. She was sure he conveniently received
wrong times from his sources when he didn’t want to catch
someone.

She suspected Markus was on Jackson’s side.
Months with no real developments was unusual for him. Well, minus
her kidnapping, of course.

Chapter Sixteen

JACKSON DIDN’T
LIKE his choices. On one hand, he didn’t want to involve Markus,
the main person hunting him for the past several months. On the
other hand, Markus would be valuable help, provided he wanted to
help them. Would Julia be able to sway him or would he ignore her
arguments and whisk her away to safety?

His instincts told him to keep Julia close
and not risk losing her, but he concluded he was doing her a
disservice. She was a strong woman with her own mind. Hell, she
made it through the Enforcers training and had successfully stayed
paired with Markus, one of their top ranking Enforcers. Only the
actual Elites guarding the Coterie leaders were held in higher
regard than him. He knew he needed to trust Julia. Why was this so
damn difficult? The urge to protect and shelter her was screwing
with his head. Either he trusted her to stay safe or he didn’t.

He flopped back on the bed. Care and
tenderness overwhelmed him as he brought her down onto his chest
and wrapped his arms around her. Stroking her back, he continued
weighing the options, wavering back and forth. Finally, he made his
decision.

When he spoke, Julia jumped in surprise as
he’d been quiet for so long then settled back against him. “Yes,
contact him. You’re correct. He’s valuable help and we need it.
This is way more complicated than a frame job.”

Her arms tightened on him for a moment and
she lifted her head. Her beautiful brown eyes shone with happiness.
“Thank you.”

She leaned in for a kiss and he was happy to
oblige. One hand slid into her hair while other one drifted down to
her back to rest on her butt. He squeezed, enjoying the feel of her
smooth skin. He nipped her bottom lip then slipped his tongue
between her luscious lips.

Before he drowned in the pleasure of her body
and lost all coherent thought, he drew back and asked “How will you
contact him? Where will you meet him?”

Julia appeared to have trouble concentrating,
her eyes dipping back to his lips
.
He smiled, loving her
reaction. Just as infatuated with her, he could barely keep his
hands to himself. Running his hands along her sexy body, she
wiggled against him. Ah, a ticklish spot. A wicked grin as he did
it again.

Squealing, she grabbed his hands and forced
them above his head. He didn’t mind. Now, her naked body stretched
along his.

“Hmm, oh, through Nathan. We’ve set up safe
spots beforehand, so no worries there.” She sucked on her lower
lip, distracted from the conversation. She shook her head, released
his hands and pushed against his chest. “I need to get ready and
head out to Dawn’s place.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he held her
still when she tried to extract herself.

“Uh-huh.” He agreed while trailing kisses on
her neck. He bit near her collarbone and she rewarded him with a
deep moan.

“This will only take a minute. Honest.” He
said as he made his way up to her ear and sucked on the lobe. Her
body shuddered in pleasure.

“If you want me to stop, tell me and I’ll
stop.” He breathed against her ear.

She leveraged herself above him, glared and
all but growled, “Damn you. You started it, now you’ll finish
it.”

She lunged at him and he was more than happy
to play.

JACKSON WAS TOO tired to even think about
moving. When Julia stirred, he gave a half-hearted attempt at
stopping her. He lazily grinned when she got up and he had an
unobstructed view of her backside, one he thoroughly enjoyed
stroking.

“Oh crap. I’m gonna be late. And I’m blaming
you!” She yelled over her shoulder as she rushed to the
bathroom.

How did he get so lucky? She was a wild
combination of tenderness and ferocity. He could never go back to
his empty life after this. She filled up holes in his soul he
didn’t know existed. Just her smile livened his day.

Faint dread trailed up his spine. What if she
changed her mind? Once they were back in “the real world”, would
she consider this was a brief interlude? His body ran cold at that
thought. He couldn’t lose her. She was the light missing from his
life.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind.
Pointless borrowing trouble as they had enough to worry about.
Julia at this art show, for one. Too many unknowns, Julia
unprotected and in the open.

Calm. Fear has no place in this
relationship.

Julia went through the same training as him.
Her partner, one of the best Enforcers, would’ve taught her tricks
for staying alive. Those fascinating earrings gave her a distinct
advantage as well. All of it added up to a kickass woman. An
intelligent, sexy, delectable woman capable of surviving.

As he extolled her virtues, the scrumptious
woman in question sashayed out of the bathroom, fully dressed.
Shorts and a t-shirt never look so hot before.

She must have picked up on his thoughts as
she gave him a mock glare and told him “No touching. I don’t trust
you to keep your hands where they belong.”

Waggling his eyebrows, he tried to entice her
back and replied, “But they would be where they belong. On your
sexy, delicious body. Come here and I’ll show you.”

He sat up and reached for her.

Laughing, she stayed on the other side of the
room and he sighed. “Fine, leave me in my despair. I guess I’ll
have to drown my sorrows with Reese’s Pieces while you’re
gone.”

“We don’t have Reese’s Pieces. Do we? Have
you been hiding Reese’s Pieces on me?” Her eyes narrowed
threateningly. “When I get back, we’re going to have a long talk
about the dangers of withholding peanut buttery goodness from me.
And there better be some left for me!”

He grinned at her thunderous expression. The
more serious of the two in his and Victor’s partnership, he rarely
teased anyone. Victor was the one who went out of his way to rile
others up, tweak some tails and sometimes piss them off. He now
understood the drive to do so.

Julia responded so nicely. It made him want
to kiss that adorable look off her beautiful face. Not that he’d
ever tell her how adorable he found her. He might not survive the
consequences.

Gathering the energy to leave the bed, he
sauntered over to the small table. Her eyes dipped low, caressing
his naked body.

“Now sweetheart, unless you plan on joining
me in bed, better keep those eyes upwards.” He chuckled as she
slowly lifted her gaze, tracing a burning path along his chest.

Grabbing one of the cell phones, he passed it
to her, letting his hand linger on hers.

“Call or text me if you need help. I’ve been
to the AGO, so porting’s easy.” He leaned in for a kiss. Giving in
to the urge, he pulled her close, her hands resting on his bare
hips, stroking his heated flesh. Another second of that and he
would tumble her back into bed.