UNDER HIS SPELL (7 page)

Instinctively, Rane shoved Skye behind him, shielding her with his
body.
 
He hadn’t thought for an instant
that she’d be welcomed with open arms, but bringing her to Mystique served a
twofold purpose.
 
One, he could keep an
eye on her while he gained more information into her Coven, and two, he could
speak with the healer and find out why his powers were weakening.

He’d noticed the diminishment recently, shortly after the witch’s
arrival and while he could have summoned help from the Assembly, he needed the
touch of his family.
 

“It’s good to see you again, too, Brother,” Rane responded in a calm
tone of voice.

Jaxon, the leader of the Assembly, a tall, bear of a man wearing
indigo robes and a glower, plowed through the doorway and came face to face
with his younger sibling.
 
“She is a
witch, Rane.”

“How nice of you to point that out.
 
Skye Logan, meet my brother, Jaxon, leader of the Assembly and don’t
worry about his scowl.
 
He seldom
bites.
 
Jaxon, this is Skye.
 
Try to be pleasant, won’t you?”
 
Rane took Skye’s hand and led her across the
threshold and into the castle.
 
“Is
Falcon here?”

Jaxon slammed the doors shut with a wave of his hand.
 
“You obviously know that he is.
 
That is why you are here, is it not?”
                           

Rane lifted one eyebrow and began the journey down the long
corridor, still holding tightly to Skye’s hand.

“You and your brother seem very close,” Skye pointed out.

Rane tossed her a look over his shoulder.
 
“Ordinarily, we are.
 
Your presence adds a level of tension.”

“You didn’t have to bring me.”

Rane chuckled.
 
“Oh, but I
did.
 
There was no way I could leave you
on Earth long enough for me to come here.”
 
Especially since he didn’t know if he’d be able to return.

“And what do you plan on doing with me now that we’re here?”

“I have a few ideas.”

“I’ll bet you do.”

Rane reached the main assembly room and stopped at the closed
door.
 
Knowing the restrictions, he
couldn’t take Skye with him.
 
“You will
stay here,” he commanded.
 
He met her
gaze.
 
“You cannot leave Mystique by
yourself, so I would suggest you do not attempt it.
 
Do not make me come looking for you.”

Skye folded her arms.
 
“I get it.
 
Go talk with the big cheese.
 
I’ll
be right here… for now.”

***

Emily bided her time, waiting patiently for the apprentice witch to
fall asleep.
 
Since
she’d been kidnapped, E
mily quickly learned the
young woman’s scheduled who guarded her each night.

She placed the dinner tray on the foot of the cot and dropped to the
floor.
 
She scooted to the door and
squinted to peer through the keyhole.
 
As
suspected, the apprentice slept soundly, her head resting back against the
knotty wood.
 
Concentrating carefully,
Emily held her hand out for the key.
 
She
restrained herself from giving a gleeful shout when it floated from the chain
around the apprentice’s neck.

In mid-air the key stopped and wobbled.
 
Emily opened one eye and tried to concentrate
harder, but the key wouldn’t move.
 

“Come on,” she whispered frantically.

Suddenly, it began to spin and Emily sucked in a sharp breath as the
key shot across the room and fell into an outstretched hand.
 

“Excellent try, Emily, my darling,” Sabrina cooed, “but you have a
long way to go before you’ll truly be one of us.”

Emily sank against the door and tried not to cry.
 
“I will get out of here.
 
You can’t keep me in here forever.”

Sabrina placed her hand against the door.
 
“I don’t need to keep you here forever,
sweets, only long enough for your sister to complete her task.
 
Then I won’t need you any more.”

***

Everywhere Rane looked, he saw the scowls of his people.
 
Dark faces set in disturbed lines.
 
Even his mother, normally a peaceful wizard,
glared at him with obvious disapproval.

 
         
“Rane, what were you thinking?
 
Do you realize how you have put all of us at
risk?”
 
Charlemaine adjusted her robes
and sat down beside her husband, resting her hand on his arm.

           
Rane circled the
large, oval-shaped table, his hands in the pockets of the robe he’d adorned
upon entering the room.
 
“What would you
have had me do, Mother?
 
Leave her alone
to escape before I knew her plan?”

“Is her plan so important you would risk the lives of your people?”
came Nexon’s disgruntled voice.

Rane turned to face the ordinarily quiet wizard.
 
“Do you not think it best to keep an eye on a
witch who clearly has me in her sights?”

“You could have summoned us,” Jaxon pointed out.

Rane assumed his place at the table.
 
“You are correct.
 
I could have,
but I needed to see Falcon and I knew he was here.”

The door bumped against the wall and the former leader of the
assembly, a handsome man with salt and pepper hair and silver eyes glided into
the room.
 
On his arm was a beautiful
woman with a serene face and a welcoming smile.
 
“Rane, it’s good to see you again.”

 
          
Rane stood and accepted her outstretched hands.
 
“And you, Danni.
 
All is well with the baby, I hope?”

She touched one hand to her burgeoning stomach.
 
“As well as can be expected for a woman my
age.”

Falcon gave her a mock glare and ushered her to a seat next to
his.
 
“Welcome home, Rane.”
 

“It is good to be home,” Rane kept up the pleasantries but inside,
he chafed at the need to speak with Falcon alone.

As if reading his mind, Falcon aimed a glance at the door.
 
“Perhaps it would be beneficial if Rane and I
spoke alone.”

Jaxon rose to his feet.
 
“His
place is among the Assembly, Falcon.
 
What he needs to say should be said in front of us all.”

Falcon smiled at the young leader.
 
“Well-said, my young friend, but I believe Rane has a matter of extreme
urgency to discuss with me only.
 
So for
now, he and I shall adjourn.”
 
He placed
a hand on Jaxon’s shoulder to soothe ruffled feathers before he walked toward
the door.
 
“Rane?”
 
He stood with his hand outstretched, waiting
for Rane to join him.
 
“We shall return
shortly.”

Rane followed Falcon out into the marble hallway and down the
corridor to another room, this one lined with gold.
 
Their footsteps echoed on the clear, glass
floors and as Falcon brought forth two comfortable looking chairs, Rane settled
himself, waiting for Falcon to join him.

“You are ill,” Falcon began.

It never ceased to amaze Rane how Falcon knew so much.
 
“Since the witch came to my house.”

“You think she intends to kill you?”

“What am I supposed to think?”
 
Rane lifted a hand to his hair and brushed it back from his face.
 
“Maybe I have been away from the Assembly too
long.
 
I may simply need their strength.”

Falcon gave him an assessing look before nodding his head
slowly.
 
“I will need time.”

Rane shot him a look.
 
“Time
for what?”

“To determine the cause of your weakness.
 
I smell the stench of the witch.”

Rane sniffed the air, but he could only smell the sweet jasmine
scent of Skye’s skin.
 
He doubted Falcon
would appreciate the knowledge.
 
Even now
the ancient wizard’s eyes were narrowing.
 
“I do not believe she is fully into the Coven.”

Falcon gave a grunt of disapproval and launched himself to his
feet.
 
“Do not make the mistake of
thinking a witch can be trusted.
 
We
still have not located your brother.”

The memory of his older brother’s disappearance at the hands of
another witch came back to the surface.
 
“Has anyone heard from Braeden?”

Falcon walked toward the wall, his hand outstretched.
 
“He is not in this world.
 
Until he returns, we can have no contact with
him.”

Rane grimaced.
 
“I hope he is
not stuck somewhere with Athena.
 
Talk
about your living hell.”

Falcon’s lips curled into a semblance of a smile.
 
“You should watch this witch of yours.”

Rane stood.
 
“She is not my
witch.
 
She is just a witch who happens
to be stalking me.”

“At any rate, keep an eye on her.
 
Do not let her out of your sight.”

Rane didn’t think that was going to be too difficult of a task.
 
“Am I losing my magic?”

Falcon had never been one to lie.
 
“Possibly.
 
I will know more by
day’s end.
 
Until then, stay with the
witch.”

“Done.”

***

Skye had merely traded prisons and while this room inside the
magical fortress of the Assembly captivated her, she still chafed at the
inability to leave.
 
The door had
disappeared the second she’d been escorted into the room by a burly guy with a
scowl and pants that were three inches too short.
 

The windows proved ineffectual as a
means of escape as they offered a minute view of the gray mist swirling
outside.
 
Baffled, Skye plopped down on
the edge of the circular bed and folded her legs beneath her.
 
She’d seen the surroundings before she’d
entered the wizards’ home and now, the beauty had disappeared and she was
trapped.
 
And Skye didn’t like to be
trapped.
 

“What have you done to me?”
 
Rane’s raspy voice caught her by surprise and she whirled away from the
window.
 

She clamped her hands on her hips and tipped her head to one
side.
 
“I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

Rane stumbled as he crossed the threshold.
 
“Like hell you don’t.”
 
He reached for her but she backed out of his
way.

“You’re drunk,” she commented scathingly.

Rane’s eyes
narrowed.
 
“I do not drink.”
          

She continued to watch him with an unblinking gaze.
 
“Is that a wizard’s code or just a personal
preference?”

With a sound of disgust, Rane turned back around.

“When am I getting out of here?” she called after him in a moment of
desperation.

He stopped, his hand on the door molding.
 
“Why?
 
Do you not like to be trapped, Skye?
 
Are the walls closing in?”
 
He
turned slowly.
 
“I know that witches do
not like to be enclosed like this.
 
Is
that what is bothering you right now?”
 
He cast a glance at her chest.
 
“Why is your heart beating so fast?”

Skye placed her hand over her heart.
 
“You know nothing about me and you’re only assuming that I am a witch.”

Rane reached behind him and opened the door, backing out into the
hallway.

“You haven’t said how long I have to stay here.”

“Until you start telling the truth,” Rane responded before flicking
the door shut with his fingertip.

***

“You cannot use your magic,” Falcon announced solemnly, sweeping
around the oval table in the Assembly Room with graceful movements.
 

A collective gasp stabbed the air.
 
“What do you mean he cannot use his magic?
 
He is a wizard,” Jensen spoke in defense of
his son.

Falcon gave a short nod.
 
“Of
that I am aware, but with each spell, each brush of magic, he grows
weaker.
 
To keep your strength, Rane, you
must abstain from magic.”

Rane frowned.
 
How could he
not use his magic?
 
It was a part of
him.
 
He used it without conscious
thought.
 
“I do not know if that is
possible.”

“Then you will die,” Falcon returned simply.

Charlemaine leaped to her feet.
 
“Surely there must be something you can do, Falcon.
 
You are the oldest wizard in our guild.
 
You know almost all, if not all, of the
spells known to our kind.
 
If this is
some kind of weakening spell or curse, you can counteract it.”
 
She hurried to his side and placed a hand on
his arm.
 
“Please, you have to help him.”

Falcon gave her an understanding look.
 
“My dear Charlemaine, I will do everything
within my power to help Rane, but first, he must do as I have instructed him.”

Gritting his teeth, Rane got to his feet slowly.
 
“I will do as you have said.
 
I only ask that you hasten the cure.”

Falcon reached out his hand as Rane walked toward the door.
 
“Wait.”

Rane turned and lifted one eyebrow, giving the older wizard time to
respond.

“You must make every conscious effort not to use your magic,
Rane.
 
Even the smallest spell could
weaken you considerably.”

Rane gave a short nod.
 
“I
understand.”
 
He placed his hand against
the wall and while the members behind him held their breaths, he cursed below
his.
 
Then, he lowered his hand and he
tossed a look over his shoulder.
 
“If
someone would be so kind as to open the door, I believe I need to have a
conversation with the young witch who is currently enjoying our hospitality.”

Falcon didn’t spare the young wizard any sympathy.
 
Instead, he flicked his hand forward and the
hidden panel slid back, allowing Rane to exit the Assembly Room.

“I am never going to make it,” Rane muttered once he was half way
down the hallway.

“Yes, you will,” came Falcon’s voice from overhead.
 
“You have no choice.”

The words struck home and Rane increased his speed toward the room
where Skye was held captive.
 
He might
not be able to use his magic, but the witch didn’t know that.
 

***

Sabrina kept vigil over the encampment, watching her sister witches
as they mingled and talked among themselves.
 
Her eyes kept drifting to her watch and with each passing minute, she
grew uneasy.
 

Skye had already missed one deadline.
 
Sabrina got to her feet and walked down the
steep hill toward the circle of fire.
 
She paused in front of a trio of novice witches and steepled her fingers
together.
 
“Bring me the girl,” she
announced in a sultry voice.