Winter Eve (7 page)

Khloe glanced at Lydia and frowned. The other Divinity had tied her long red hair up in a ponytail about halfway through the shopping trip, complaining about the heat. Khloe dismissed it as one of Lydia’s prego-hot flashes that she had often. However, the fatigue settling over Lydia’s porcelain features was starting to concern Khloe. Maybe she had thought too soon about her friend’s energy level.

“Are you okay?”

Lydia shifted her green-and-blue gaze to Khloe and smiled. “I’m fine.”

With a sigh, Khloe looked at Kalissa, shrugged, and let the lie drop. Lydia kept her emotions on a tight leash not letting anyone see her pain. Being able to pick up each other’s emotions was one of the benefits of having been bound together a month ago by the Goddess of Witchcraft, Hecate. It was a blessing and very annoying.

Khloe understood the anger, the need to hide the pain from the others. Lydia hadn’t only lost her father and husband, but her mother was missing, and she was possibly in the hands of the demons. Hell, she was handling it a lot better than Khloe would have. Then again, she wasn’t the one about to be a mother, so she didn’t know what it was like to possess the mother’s instinct to love, to protect, and be strong for the sake of a child. Still, it wasn’t healthy to keep everything bottled up inside.

“We can relax in the hot tub when we get home,” Khloe said, moving ahead of the other two women.

“That would be nice,” Lydia replied with a real smile this time, not the forced I’m-not-hiding-my-pain smile she usually offered everyone.

Stepping off the curb to head to the car, Khloe stilled and let the warm air caress her skin. An electrical charge that only the select few
magickin
—like her and the other Divinities—could detect was palpable in the humid summer air.

Her spine tingled as the supernatural energy drifted on the wind, putting her on full alert. Reaching out with her senses, she relaxed. A little. The energy was familiar in an odd kind of way. Her admirer was nearby.

More like a stalker, really, without the creepy love letters and phone calls.

For the last month, someone had watched her and followed her every move. When the entity was near, a warm shiver rolled over her skin like a caress. The energy didn’t come from a human. Demon? Maybe. But, the power was too intense to be any demonic creature she’d come in contact with. She considered one of the gods, but that didn’t make sense either. The gods wouldn’t stalk her. They would send a messenger or deliver their message in person. She and the others had also thought it could be a guardian.

Whatever the entity was, it annoyed the hell out of her to be followed around and spied upon.

She scanned to mall parking lot and the sidewalk that lead to the various shops. Nothing remotely threatening came into view or reached out to her supernatural senses. Then again, she never saw anything when she sensed the presence. It had shown up last month, right after she and Kalissa had been thrust into an ancient war between witches and demons.

That was when she and Kalissa found a note from their mother telling them about the Sinew—a crystal sphere that held the magic of the worlds—and sent Kalissa on a mission to retrieve it. As Divinities, it was their duty to protect
magickin
from Khan, the new Bastard Lord of the Underworld.

Khloe gladly pledged to take a stand in the war. After all, it was Khan and his demonic army who’d taken her parents away from her almost two years ago. She was going to make them pay, no matter how long it took. Being long-lived, time was something she had plenty of.

The wind picked up, bringing a hint of coolness and the scent of coming rain. She looked up, inhaled, and smiled. Dark storm clouds filled the afternoon sky. She loved storms. Being able to call upon the elements and bend them to her will was her divine gift. So, she took every opportunity she could to enjoy them. “There’s a powerful storm headed our way.”

“It’s a good thing we’re going straight home.” Kalissa reached out to snatch Khloe’s cell from her.

She jerked away before Kalissa could grab it, laughed, and jogged ahead of the other two women. Kalissa’s blond curls, a shade darker than Khloe’s, and without pink streaks, were pulled back in ponytail, but it was the annoyance across her slightly oval face that made Khloe giggle with mischief. Walking backward in the direction of Kalissa’s new Beamer, Khloe scrolled through the pictures she had snapped of them shopping. Her twin hated having her picture taken and would delete the photos once she got a hold of the phone. No way, Khloe had plans for these babies, like uploading them to the
magickin
social network, Magical Enchantments.

“Lo, stop.”

Khloe froze and snapped her head up to meet Kalissa’s violet, anxious gaze. The psychic connection to her twin told her she wasn’t talking about the phone. Hairs stood up on the back of her neck rose, and a cold shiver rolled down her spine. A new demonic power touched her awareness, different, colder than their daily stalker.

“Here.” She shoved her shopping bags to Kalissa and put the cell in her back pocket of her shorts. “You and Lydia head home. I’ll catch up to you.”

Kalissa shook her head. “I don’t like this.”

Neither did she, but they had gone  over it. The plan was that anytime they were out and shit got critical they split up. When her sister had bonded with and married the sheriff of Maxville, Ayden Daniels, the bond between Ayden and Kalissa extended through the twin bond to Khloe. All three of them could connect telepathically and emotionally, and the three of them could use the gift to tap into other magical beings’ powers. To keep the gift from falling into Khan’s hands, they agreed they should never be caught together because, together, they were both more powerful and also more vulnerable.

Khan would drain them of their magic, which would kill them instantly because a Divinity’s magic was tied to their life force. They couldn’t survive without it. Khan would then use that magic in his plans to merge the natural world and the Afterworld to the Underworld.

Today, they’d taken a huge risk with Lydia. She was eight months pregnant and, according to the
magickin
birth cycle, was due any day.

“Look, you said yourself that our stalker might be a guardian sent to watch over us. If that’s the case, then I’m not alone.”

“That’s just a hunch. We’re not sure.”

“Please, Lis. Go. I’ll be okay.”

Kalissa let out a heavy sigh and urged Lydia in front of her to shield the other Divinity from harm as they rushed toward the car.

The squealing of tires and the sight of a white mini-van barreling toward them sent Khloe’s heart into marathon speed. She gave her sister and her new best friend a kiss on their cheeks and took off through the parking lot, hoping the demon would take the bait.

She glanced over her shoulder to the BWM. Kalissa and Lydia were safe inside and pulling out of the parking space. Thank the gods. A pang of relief rolled through her and she prayed Kalissa and Lydia would make it home safe.

The roar of an engine drew her attention to the white box on wheels speeding toward her much too fast for a parking lot, closing in on her. She hit the sidewalk and ran toward the road. She wanted to lead them out of the city limits without becoming the next demon delicacy. The farther away from witnesses, the better. They had enough to deal with because of the demons. They didn’t need a twenty-first century lynch mob to contend with.

A quick glance at the advancing vehicle caused her heart to slam against her ribcage. The van’s side door slid open, and a demon jumped out, tucked his head, and rolled across the pavement into the grass. He jumped up and ran straight for her.

Shit
!

She pushed her legs as fast as they could go. The racing engine of the van grew louder. She flashed a couple of miles up the road. Without a set destination, she couldn’t teleport far. Where would she go anyway?

Outrunning that damn van wasn’t happening. She might be a powerful witch, but she didn’t know where she could go or how many demons were packed inside that van. Judging by the strength and power rolling off the ones chasing her, they were
Amiddians,
the middle class citizens of the Underworld. 

She whirled and thrust an energy ball at the demon, knocking him backward a few feet. Quickly, she threw a softball size fireball at him. It hit him square in the chest. The flames covered his body and, within seconds, he disappeared into a pile of ash.

Squealing tires followed by the crunching and scraping of metal on pavement behind her sparked her curiosity. Her nose tingled at the smell of hot breaks and burnt rubber. When she turned to look at the wreckage, she gasped. The van lay on its side in the middle of the street. A much stronger and larger male, with hair black as night and long enough to allow fingers to comb through it, stood at the front of the vehicle, his massive chest rose and fell under his black T-shirt as he took deep, calculated breaths.

After punching through the glass, he reached inside the windshield and pulled out the driver. A force of power rolled off the newcomer unlike anything she’d ever felt before. He didn’t radiate demon magic like the others. Although his aura was dark, his power was almost godly and familiar.

Her stalker.

His power reached out to her like physical touch of a lover, sending tingles over her skin. His sculptured body moved in a sensual, yet deadly manner. Her hands itched to touch him, to feel his warm skin under her palms. She closed her eyes to stop the urge to go to him, shivered, and cursed her body for responding to him. Usually demons threw off eerie fridge energy. But, this one, he warmed her in a way that no other man had ever done.

Okay, Lo. You have officially lost your mind
.

The
Amiddian
, held off the ground in the death grip of her stalker, kicked his legs wildly and screamed as the larger male spoke in tones too low for her to make out the words. She caught a glimpse of huge sharp fangs before he latched onto his victim’s neck.

After a few moments, Mr. Tall Dark and Scary tossed the lifeless body away like last week’s trash and turned toward her. She swallowed hard.

His attention snapped to the left. Khloe followed his gaze to another demon running toward her. Her stalker flashed to stand in front of the other demon, and she fled in the opposite direction.

She was so not hanging around to see what he did to that one. Cutting to her right, she ran into the woods, away from her stalker and would-be captors.

Several feet inside the undeveloped property, another demon materialized in front of her. She dug her heels into the ground to keep from plowing into him. White-blond hair framed his too-thin demonic face. Most demons looked human, allowing them to blend into the natural world. This one didn’t blend very well. At least not to her. For one, his crimson-colored eyes were anything but human. Secondly, his dark magic rolled off him in powerful, choking waves.

Heart hammering in her ears, she darted to the side, but he was too fast for her. His large, rough hands wrapped around her upper arm and his sharp claws dug into her skin, making her cry out. As quickly as he’d grabbed her, an iron bracelet snapped around her wrist. The cuff he slapped on her right arm instantly muted her magic. She felt the flow of energy slow and back away from the iron. She tried to force is out, create a spark, but it didn’t work. Even her elemental magic reseeded. Damn. She was powerless against him.

Panic gripped her, and she struggled against the large demon. Survival instincts kicked in, and she brought her foot up and thrust it out, right into his groin. With a painful groan, he crumbled to the ground.

It was a good thing male demons had the same weakness as human men. Take out the jewels and women could rule the world.

The warm tingle across her skin said her stalker was closing in on her, and she bolted deeper into the woods.

***

Jagger tossed the
Amiddian
to the side, stepped away from the overturned van, and froze. Khloe stood on the shoulder of the road about fifteen feet ahead, and watched him. Her pink-streaked blond hair framed her oval face, making her look like a pissed off angel. He took a step forward and felt the presence of another demon. He turned to the new energy to see a horned, blue-skinned demon advancing toward Khloe.

Fuck.
Where were they coming from?

Letting out a low growl, Jagger materialized in front of the demon and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Holding the hell-spawn off the ground, Jagger let his fangs drop. “What do you want with her?”

The demon narrowed his eyes and smirked, but said nothing.

Tightening his grip, Jagger gave the demon one more chance. “You can tell me, or I’ll drain the memories from your useless soul.”

The idiot laughed and vanished.

Fuck
! No one should have been able to flash from his hold. He surrounded them with a spell for just that reason. There was only one possibility. Khan had a power source just like Jagger suspected.

Fisting his hands to his side, he whirled around to find Khloe gone. Great. Another complication. Scenting the air, he picked up on her chocolate-rose fragrance and rushed into the forest. Several feet into the trees and brush, he found her.

She wasn’t alone. A
Regal
—the imperial guards of Khan and the most powerful demons in the Underworld—stood over her, with his hand gripping her arm.

Rage ran in Jagger’s veins, fueling his need to protect her and kill for her.

He soon discovered his Khloe was a fireball. She kicked the
Regal
in the balls, taking the demon to the ground. Turning on her heels, she took off again, but not before he caught the scent of blood.

A deep growl ripped from his throat, and he thrust his hand toward the male struggling to stand, hitting him with a ball of fire. The demon puffed into a black pile of dust.

No one harmed what belonged to him and lived.

From another Fated Desires author: Carrie Ann Ryan brings us a Holiday Tale sure to keep you warm in the winter.