The Sorceress Screams (33 page)

Desmond
stalked several feet from the car. I hovered closer to the vehicle. He wouldn’t
attack me if it meant putting his car in danger, would he?

He faced me. A
dark expression twisted his ordinarily beautiful face. “You are a
Healer
, too?” The impressive roar sent
the fine hairs around my face flying away.

I pulled my
head back as far as it would go while still attached to my neck. I’d have liked
to run in the opposite direction but he needed to have his say.

He lifted a
finger into the air.
“Water.”
A second finger moved
into place beside it.
“Earth.”
A third joined them.
“Air.”
A fourth finger popped up.
“Fire.”
And the thumb jumped out.
“And now
Healing
!”

Desmond
stomped forward, crowding me into the BMW.
“
Five
schools.
Five fucking
schools! Are you a necromancer, too,
Kora
?”

I blinked back
surprise upon hearing his use of my nickname. He always called me Ms. Walsh,
especially when he was angry.

But how in
Hades was I supposed to answer him? The truth would send him off the deep end.
But eventually the truth would come out thanks to what would happen later
tonight. Desmond would feel betrayed if I lied now. I needed him—I needed
all
of them—or I’d never be able to
enact my mother’s plan.

My answer came
in the form of a small nod.

“Jesus Christ!”
He rolled away from me and shoved his hands into his cropped hair. “Jesus Christ,”
he said with his back to me. His head lifted to the sun as if he’d find his
answers there. Experience told me that never worked.
“Six
schools!
And no weaves? It’s not possible! But I’ve
seen
it! My God, I’ve seen it!” Desmond’s torso folded over,
doubling toward the ground. He went quiet, eerily so.

I held my
breath, willing him to get back in the car.

Desmond’s head
rolled toward me. His aqua irises peeked from beneath deeply furrowed brows.
Then he was upright and coming at me. He halted startlingly close—toes touching
mine. His intense gaze ensnared me, catching my breath in an instant.

His voice came
out as a whisper. “What about Light?”

I released a
ragged sigh, eyelids slipping shut.

He wasn’t supposed to ask that
.
He wasn’t supposed to ask
any of this
.

“My God.”
He choked.
“And Time?”

“
Please
.” I whimpered because I
knew
he’d haul me back to the coalition
to have me burnt on a pyre if I answered him. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I
swear it.”

“They’re
extinct schools,” he said in a voice laced with disbelief. “How can you have
them if they’re extinct?”

“Desmond,
please. I don’t mean anyone harm. I swear on all that is good.”

He snapped out
of his shock. Desmond grabbed hold of my biceps with pinching fingers, hauling
me onto the tips of my toes. Once he had me in a position I couldn’t easily
break out of, he roared into my face. “How can you have them if they’re
extinct?”

I must have
been a mess on the heels of last night’s attack otherwise I never would have
reacted as I did. I burst into tears when I would have rather died than cry in
front of him.

His fury was
too like Nadir’s, and the submissive pose he’d put me in brought that horrific
memory to the forefront. Fortunately I’d been alert enough not to attack him. Though
it wouldn’t have killed him, it wouldn’t have been good for my case.

His
narrow-eyed fury paused. Wide-eyed shock replaced it. But fury quickly
returned. The expressions of soft concern and twisted remorse made rare
appearances in between his churning fury. Clearly he fought several emotions.

Desmond’s rage
won out. He dropped me without warning. My feet hadn’t been prepared for the
movement. I crumpled onto the sandy ground in time to hear the thuds of loafers
over the dusty ground as he stalked back to the car. He slammed the driver’s
door shut. And then peeled out backwards, kicking up gravel as he went.

I stood in
disbelief as Desmond left me … in the middle of nowhere.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I’d Healed the
soles of my feet countless times over the five mile walk from nowhere to the
apartment complex. My ballet flats weren’t the worst shoes I could have been
stranded in, but they certainly weren’t the best. Numerous times I’d considered
stripping one or more of my garments off because it had become terribly hot in
the July sun. But I hadn’t.
Though I
did
take a long shower when I got home.

Should I be
seething because Desmond had left me out in the desert? Or relieved he hadn’t
killed
me and then left me? One thing I
definitely wasn’t relieved about was that he had my purse. I’d had to ask the
front office to let me into my apartment because he even had my keys.

I couldn’t
drive. I couldn’t call anyone, even him. And I wouldn’t know if the coalition
wanted to burn me until they arrived with a pitchfork-laden mob.

I sat on the
futon staring at the dark, colossal-screen television. Had hiding my abilities
from the start had been a misstep? Desmond had wanted to eject me from
Wipuk
when he’d thought I was a vanilla human with a few
weaves. What would he have done if he’d known I had access to every school of
magic on the planet?

Best case
scenario, he’d have driven me and my furniture into Mexico. Worst case, he
would have mounted an attack on me. At least this way I’d had some time to
prove I could do good things with my abilities.

But would it
be enough?

****

Desmond’s
assistant—the statuesque brunette with the conservative wardrobe—dropped my
purse off at three in the afternoon. Allison didn’t have any warnings or
messages of any kind from her boss. But she did have a dark glare leveled at my
head throughout the transaction. Whether that was from Desmond sharing I was a
magical menace or not was unclear.

The return of
my purse meant I was able to answer my phone when it rang three hours later.
The caller ID told me it was Max. How should I feel about him? He’d brutally
murdered a man in front of me. But that man would have made it his mission to
destroy me if something hadn’t been done. I was also still torn on the whole
sex-with-a-corpse thing thanks to Trip’s visit.

I picked up
the call after the third ring. “Hello?”

“
Hola
.
Rebecca.”

My eyelids
fluttered at his sensual voice.

“I was
worried,” he said. “Ali Mac is here. He wasn’t supposed to be here. I’m very
displeased he left you. You are well?”

I nodded even
though he couldn’t see it. “I’m fine.” He didn’t need to know Desmond had
stranded me in the middle of nowhere. He’d want to know why, and I couldn’t
tell him that. I’d need the element of surprise if I had any hope of getting
back my ring.

“He believes
Dr. Marino manipulated him into leaving you,” Max said coolly. “Do you agree
with this?”

Damn it down the Styx. Why
couldn’t
Desmond
have also made Ali Mac forget what had happened?

“He did.”

Max exhaled an
angry breath. “Had you been hurt…
”
His voice trailed
off, perhaps while we recalled what had happened last night. “Suffice it to say
Dr. Marino would have learned true pain.”

A shiver
skittered down my back. I couldn’t keep the image of Nadir Khan’s shocked
expression above his naked, dripping spinal cord out of my head. Gruesome
didn’t begin to describe it.

“If you
believe Ali Mac capable of guarding you, I’ll send him back at once,” Max said
next.

The unvoiced
threat was clear. If I didn’t believe Ali Mac capable, the young man would lose
his job. I hoped that wasn’t the best case scenario. I was beginning to think
Max was rather ruthless despite his flirtatious nature with me. It made the
fear of what would
happen
later lift a little more.

“Ali Mac is
capable of guarding me,” I said.

At least he was capable of guarding me against anyone
but the high priest of Water witches
. No one but
perhaps Max himself could guard me against Desmond. And that was only because
Max seemed immune to the school’s manipulation.

“He’s walking
out the door now, querida.” There was a pause. “You’ll come for dinner?”

I nibbled my
lip. I hadn’t wanted to do this at his house. But maybe that was best. It would
be easier to tell him to stay than to tell him to go home.

“Yeah.”

“Excellent,”
the vampire said. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Rebecca.”

Yeah, he
would. And it would be the last time I would ever go to Maximo de Sole’s
beautiful Spanish villa.

****

He was dressed
for sex. I knew it the moment I stepped into the breakfast room and saw the
light glint off his olive sienna skin. A black linen shirt was unbuttoned clear
to his navel, showcasing his strong chest and soft spattering of hair. His
white linen pants were slung low over his hips, and the waistband had slipped
beneath the clump of hair that protected the sensitive organs below. He looked
cool and comfortable without shoes or socks, hair styled out of his face just
so.

He crooned
upon seeing me. “Rebecca.”

In contrast to
him, I looked as if I’d dressed for a cool autumn day of tag-sailing. My jeans
were relaxed, and a large orange shirt hid my shape. I even had on socks
beneath my Doc Marten’s instead of fishnets.

His gaze
dropped to the bruises visible above the shirt’s boat neck collar. Max’s
expression darkened, but he said nothing. Instead, he crossed the room so he
could
hover
his hand over them.

“Vampire
saliva heals,” he said. The mischievous smile formed on his lips. “Perhaps your
bruises will fade if I lick you from head to toe.”

Heat lifted
from below. I drew in a quick breath because I hadn’t wanted this to get that
far. He was too close. He’d kiss me if I didn’t do something soon. And if he
kissed me, I might become pliant. I might let him do more to me.

Before I could
change my mind, I silently called on Death magic. Reports of the dead in the
building flew through my brain. Apart from the one standing within a foot of
me, there was another in the kitchen, one in the basement, and a third
somewhere in the distance—perhaps in a garage or tending the lawn.

The trapped
soul in Maximo seemed in pain, though less so than Nadir’s. I didn’t have time
to consider its meaning. Instead I called on it, ensnaring its glowing seed in
a magical lasso. I’d try my attack silently. Maybe Max wouldn’t figure out how
I’d accomplished it.

I pushed Death
magic into him while simultaneously filtering it back into me like an
uninterrupted power circuit. The faint snapping sensation in my head told me he
was mine. Feigning a smile, I brushed my fingers over the thin stroke of hair
lining his jaw.

“Max,” I said
while pushing just a little more power into him. “I think you should give me my
ring now.”

His hand
lifted automatically. The opposite limb came up to do the honors. And then the
ring was in my palm. I didn’t breathe in relief, didn’t dare jinx this.

Rising up onto
the tips of my toes I pressed a small kiss against his lips as I slipped the
ring onto my ring finger. “Thank you for everything. It was fun while it
lasted. Enjoy dinner without me.”

At a sedate
speed, I walked to the door, hitting Ali Mac with my own brand of Water magic.
He’d give me a ride home as fast as his truck would go whether he liked it or
not. Only when I was halfway across the colony did I release the reins on
Maximo de Sole.

He would make
me pay. But with Death magic in my arsenal and the ring out of his, I could
keep him and his pets in line.

****

“Hecate, I
summon you.”

My mother
appeared in her ceremonial robes atop her beanbag chair. She snatched up the
coffee I’d made. A clump of burgundy hair flowed over her shoulder in a
beautiful fall I envied. Her face was set in a warm smile as she sat properly
in the seat for once.

“You did it.” Pride
spread her lips broad.

I gave a glum
nod. The ring that had caused so much drama was nestled within my outstretched
palm. “I appreciate the gift, but I’d like you to keep it safe for me. I can’t
risk something this powerful falling back into the wrong hands.”

Maximo had
never actually done anything with it. He hadn’t so much as asked how to invoke
it. I shook my head, putting the thought out of my mind.

“I failed to
keep it safe, and thus I am unworthy to hold it,” I said.