Magical Tendencies (24 page)

"Dead?" Leo sounded unconvinced, "How did this happen?"

"He attacked the queen in the past and that is where I killed him." Solomon shrugged.

"In the past you say?" Leo walked closer to Camela as she began to stare at the patterns in the floor again, "In the past… "

Suddenly Leo was a blur of motion, grabbing Camela by the throat and ramming her into the far wall, rich in deep wood grains. He growled at her viciously and shook her slightly even though he was still only holding her by the throat.

Camela looked down at him as if he were commenting on her wardrobe—this did not bother her. It actually seemed to be making her day because a small smile appeared on her perfectly red lips as she eyed him seductively. It was clear she was after his attention, and just like a sad child, it didn't seem to matter if the attention was positive or negative because attention was attention.

Leo eyed her suspiciously—he realized she didn't mind either, "Tell me, Camela… what vicious, nasty things have you been doing with Manuel… that ultimately caused his untimely end. You know, Camela, he was one of my best. I hate to lose a weapon as well-honed as he was." He shrugged and released her, dropping her to the floor as he turned and walked towards the window.

Camela did not look happy that she had lost his attention. The eye contact alone seemed to be what she craved from him. She heaved for breath as she pushed herself off of the floor, the heels clicking into place. She did not reply to his comments. Obviously she knew better than to kick the lunging bear. Or did she?

"You have been playing with
fire
, Camela. The past is forbidden even for the likes of us. You think that you are immune to my punishment because I have favored you in the past. I am
not
incapable of punishing you or even taking your life. You know that better than anyone, woman." He stared at her with a flare of his ruby eyes.

Camela eyed him as if she were trying to read his every emotion. Finally she bowed her head in resignation, "Yes, my liege."

My mind was reeling. There was so much left unsaid in this whole conversation and Leo was acting as if everything was all tied up.

Leo walked determinedly back to Camela and grasped her petite face in his thick, muscular hands. Squeezing her cheeks unkindly, he forced her to make eye contact with him as he stared at her with broiling hostility, "No more! The queen is off limits for anyone that you are in contact with. And that includes
everyone
, Camela. Not just demons—vampires, warlocks, shadows, ghosts… everything. You have been playing with fire and you will cost us much more than I am willing to give up. We could possibly even lose our lives, our existence because of your stupidity!" He glared at her and she didn't even flinch.

She fisted her hands at her side as she released her fury for the first time today, "I would rather you be dead… all of us… than allow you to touch
her
," she pointed her finger at me in accusation, "in any way, shape or form. You are
mine
and I do
not
share." She glared at him with anger dripping in seduction. These two could make a movie with all of the unbridled tension in the room—it would probably have to be a porno because that was where it all seemed to be headed.
These two were made for each other.

34

"So how did you get away from the demons again?" Von sounded unconvinced as we all sat at my small dining room table in my apartment.

Shrugging, I took a sip of hot tea and stared at the tea leaves that escaped the diffuser. "The king apologized for my treatment and released me because he knew that I had already been… how did he say it? 'Tormented by demon lust.'" Ha! Demon lust. Those two demons were a bundle of lust but who knew how it was all going to turn out for them. She seemed very much like the vengeful witch and he was the clueless idiot getting in the way of her plans. Well, at least it seemed that way. Leo was no idiot, though.

Solomon leaned back in his chair as he looked outside at the lights of Portland just past my patio. "He knew that he would be held accountable for his own demon's behavior. Camela is a force of her own, she is his second in command and she has resources that he may never know about."

"A woman scorned." My voice trailed off as everyone at the table looked over at me. "What? It's true—Camela is going to either come after me or go after Leo for how she's been treated. My bets are on her coming after me, though." I sighed deeply.

Tisha reached over the table and placed her hand on my own. "We have much to discuss. Tell me more about your visit to the past."

Von looked at me suspiciously as I recounted the experience. He now knew that it was my present self that had chosen Solomon to be my personal guard, granting him complete access to my chambers and my life. Von's thoughts could not have been far away from my true feelings for Solomon but he didn't broach the subject. It was still the elephant in the room but everyone was working diligently to keep it out of the conversation.

Everyone was submerged in their own intense thoughts. Tisha was tapping her tented fingers against her chin, Solomon was tapping his fingers on his hard, defined biceps with his arms crossed defensively across his chest, Von was staring outside the window to keep a watchful eye on the dark, and I was busily studying the wood grain on the table. No one seemed to want to speak at all.

Celeste
.

"Yes?" I looked up to Tisha.

Tisha looked at me inquisitively, "What?"

"You said my name."

"No I didn't." Came Tisha's quick reply.

"Yes, just now, you said my name." A deep feeling of foreboding hit me as a chill ran down my spine.

Tisha glanced over at Solomon and then Von.

"No one spoke, Celeste." Solomon leaned slightly towards me. Von's eyes were instantly on me and his eyebrow was quirked upward.

Celeste, we need to talk.

"What?" I sat up straight in my chair, my back rigid with surprise. I could feel the back of the chair standing stiffly against my spine. It actually felt cold to me even though I had been sitting in the chair for over thirty minutes. My eyes scanned the room for another body, a shadow, anything.

Celeste, come to the beach house. We must speak… alone.

My body pivoted towards the door. Every muscle in my body wanted to obey—listen to the bodiless voice that was now calling to me. I needed to go to it, her. I needed to speak to her about things that I wasn't sure of. Every part of me said that it was the right thing to do… but why?

Solomon was instantly standing beside me, a phantom moving in the air as he laid a hand on my shoulder, trying to push me down into my seat. My eyes darted up to his to see the look of strength and protectiveness pooling in the depths of his blue-green eyes. My body sighed. He always gave me such a sense of peace and safety. My only thought was to stay with him when he did that.

"What are you doing?" Von asked, rigid in his spot as he eyed Solomon's hand on my shoulder.

"She is being called." Solomon answered.

Called? By whom? For what reason? What does being 'called' even mean? The questions swam in my mind as my body tensed. How did he know? What did it mean?

Tisha nodded as if she heard every whisper of the statements in my mind, "Yes, she has received a summons. I haven't seen that in ages. Who could it be?" She asked the question to herself, tapping those fingers on her chin more vigorously.

I stood up, pushing Solomon's firm hand off of my shoulder.

"I don't know who it is but I have to go to her. I don't know why, but her voice is… familiar." I walked over to the kitchen's bar area and grabbed my purse off of the stool pushed closely to the edge.

All eyes were on me and eyed me as if I had grown another leg.

"Her?" Von asked in surprise.

"Yes, it was a woman's voice." I nodded as I gathered my leather jacket and began to shove my hands through the arm holes. Straightening my jacket, throwing the purse over my arm and squaring my shoulders, I nodded at the group of cautious faces. "I
am
going to talk to her."

Everyone in the room was quiet as Von shook his head, "You are
not
going to go anywhere. This could be a trap. Use your brain for once, Celeste." His voice was like a father speaking to a child and that riled me up more than any name calling he could have ever dreamed up.

"
Yes
, I am." I said simply as I began to stride towards the door, determined to complete my task.

Instantly Solomon was at my shoulder, pulling on my arm gently to stop my advance. "I will go with you," he said simply, grabbing his own leather jacket that was sitting on the loveseat near the door.

I shook my head, "She said we needed to talk alone. I doubt that I will be able to carry on a conversation with you looming in the background."

Solomon bit his lip and then shrugged. "Then you will not go at all. You must have an escort… your guard is the best escort you could ever have."

Von harrumphed loudly as he crossed his arms against his strong chest and leaned back in his chair. "Figures you would try to tag along with her." His eyes radiated heat and anger.

Solomon shrugged, "It is my sworn duty, Edwards. Would you rather she go alone?"

My eyes darted between the two men. They were at it again but I didn't have the time to think about it.

I set my arms stiff at my side and released a long, stressed breath, "Fine. Solomon, you will go with me."

Before Von could quip back, I reached out for Solomon's strong forearm and looked him in the eye. "Are you ready?"

He simply nodded as he reached up to lay his hand on mine that was firmly savoring his defined muscles.
Sigh
. He was so beautiful.

I closed my eyes and envisioned the beach house out on highway 101. The perfect place for absolute peace so why was I not feeling any peace about visiting the beautiful beach house again?

A flash of purple flared in the room as everything around us disappeared.

35

The room was dark and yet I could still see everything. The cottage couch, the whitewashed wooden coffee table and end tables, the heavy curtains over the huge windows that overlooked the ocean. Everything was just as we had left it… except…

Walking over to the coffee table, I leaned over to pick up a new object—a child's amethyst bracelet. It was delicate and beautiful, laced with tiny opalescent beads along with the beautiful amethyst rose-shaped stones. The moonstones were spaced out in every sixth bead, allowing the amethyst to dominate the bracelet.

My eyes twitched over to Solomon inquisitively.

"I've never seen it before," he answered my question as his eyes darted around the room. "I'm going to check the rest of the house." He strode over to the master bedroom and began opening doors, closing doors and darting from window to window.

My mind raced as I allowed him to flit from my view, darting around like a sprinter on steroids. I walked into the kitchen, still holding the bracelet in my warm hand. No, my hand was cool, the bracelet was warm. It actually seemed to be radiating its own heat.
That's just so odd.
My mind swam.

The movement in the house seemed to stop and my head snapped up when I realized that Solomon had not returned to me yet. I looked around the room cautiously as I inched towards the master bedroom's doorway. It lead directly from the dining room so it really wasn't that far to walk. A deep sense of fear ran through me as I pushed the door out of my way and walked inside.

Sitting in a bedside chair was Solomon. He looked as if he had just sat down and dozed off to sleep, eyes closed, face serene. My stomach panged with a cold grip. What was going on? Solomon was checking the house for danger and now he was taking a
nap?!

I walked over to him cautiously, placing my hand on his shoulder to shake him. He didn't respond to the slight shake that I gave him. I shook harder, enough to make his teeth chatter but he still didn't wake up.

We're in deep trouble.
My mind was spurred into furious fits of morbid imagination by fear and concern.
What is wrong with Solomon? What am I getting myself into?

Leaving my hand on his shoulder, I tried to imagine my apartment living room, pressing my exhausted mind to take us there but nothing happened. Huffing, I closed my eyes and concentrated harder. Imagining the chairs, the couch, the Berber carpet, I pushed my senses out to attempt again to move us through air and space and take us away. Nothing again.

Releasing a frustrated breath I remembered instantly…
Solomon said that the house was warded for safety. I can't shadow us out or in. Wait! How did I get us here?

My eyes scanned the room as I shook my head. This was definitely
not
good.

Celeste. Come to the beach. I'm here, waiting for you. We must talk.

My body turned towards the door again, automatically, on its own.
STOP!
My mind lashed out at my body, refusing to agree to moving. My body continued to walk, though, through the bedroom door, past the couch and loveseat, to the back door.

Opening the back door, I stepped out into the garden. The hydrangea bushes looked like dark heads gazing at me as my feet continued to walk towards the back of the garden and descended the stone staircase to the beach down below.
Treacherous, treacherous body!
My mind was pushing and pulling, attempting to get control back of my muscles and my senses.

Finally, when my feet touched the beach my other senses took over. There was the wind, caressing me lovingly, the sound of the crashing shore calling my name and assuring me that everything was going to be well, the heady scent of the briny sea and the distinct musk of the wet sand. A sense of calm pulsed through me as I continued to walk to the wet beach.

There, standing at the shore, waiting for me with the most understanding look was a woman. She was absolutely breathtaking, as far as women go. She positively glowed with beauty and strength. My heart sang to be with her—she was something special and my mind raced to try to place her in my memories. I would definitely remember meeting her at any point in my life but she was not a part of my memories. A deep sadness struck me at the thought that I had never really met this woman before—there was an emptiness without her. Why?