Blind Magic: The Sanctuary Chronicles Page 7

  “Whoa, it definitely looks better. I don’t know what you did, but it helped a lot.”

  There was admiration in his voice, and honesty too.

  “I didn’t do anything, Hunter. It was the water.”

  “The water? I don’t understand, it comes from the tap. I swear I didn’t add anything to it.”

  Sera checked the wound with her fingers and detected some swelling. “Rinse and put the cloth in the bowl again, would you?”

  Definitely puzzled, Hunter did as he was told. When he wanted to hand over the cloth, she shook her head. “Look at the wound, you should see some swelling. Am I right?”

  He went around the bed some more. “Yeah, I see some swelling.”

  “Put the cloth on it.”

  “But why? If you can heal her, why wouldn’t you do it?”

  “Humor me, please. Put the damp cloth on the wound.”

  And he did. They waited in silence for a while until he removed the cloth. His sharp intake of breath was all she needed to hear.

  “There seems to be power in you, Hunter Grimes.”

  “I swear I didn’t do anything. I don’t have powers.”

  Sera smiled at his panicked tone. “Breathe, Hunter. It’s not bad news. You just seem to be full of surprises. When you filled up the bowl, what did you do?”

  “Nothing, I swear! I just put warm water into a normal bowl.”

  Ignoring his restless energy, Sera continued. “What were you thinking? When the water filled up?”

  “Thinking? I don’t know.”

  “Hunter...”

  The man exhaled. “I don’t know... I just wished that you could help the bear, Patricia, and that she would heal.”

  “Intention is the first step to power.”

  The man clearly wasn’t enthusiastic about this conversation, and as Sera was certain that Hunter had been drawn into this for some mysterious decision of the universe, she decided to let it go.

  “Well, it seems that, until the storm lessens, we’ll be stuck together. And with Patricia unconscious, we need all the help we can get.”

  Hunter relaxed a bit. “Well, I’m glad I went to the grocery store yesterday, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to feed three animal shifters and a witch tonight.”

  His tone was amused, and Sera decided to tease him some more. As he seemed to have fallen into her world, better for him to be prepared for the rest. “Two animal shifters and a witch.”

  “And what about the other guy, the one you named Finn.”

  “Oh, he eats food too, but he prefers another kind of nourishment.”

  Hunter hesitated, and she couldn’t help but smile.

  “Well, tonight, you’ll also be welcoming a vampire at your table.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Ian tried to unclench his jaw and take a deep breath. So far, the last twenty-four hours had gone from worse to crap, and he didn’t know when it would all end. At least the storm was slowly calming down. Sera was adamant that it would stop soon, as not even the most powerful beings would be able to sustain this sort of spell for such a long time.

  Being cooped up in such a restricted space took a toll on his wolf, who was used to roaming free. It was still under control, but as soon as they could get out of here and to a safe place, he would have to shift and hunt.

  What played on his control even more was how Sera was fascinated by that human cop, unable to keep her eyes off him. It made him want to howl and tear him apart, but instead, he stood by the window, and focused on the weather, in the meantime, taking deep, very deep breaths.

  “If I wouldn’t fear my ass being thrown into the cold, I would say that I admire your restraint, wolf.”

  Finn came to look outside, and Ian wondered if the vampire had so little sense of preservation whatsoever.

  “I don’t like being in a small space for too long.”

  “That’s definitely not what I was referring to.” The tall, wicked Irish man turned to look at the living room, where Sera and Hunter were talking. Ian had heard the conversation, and there wasn’t anything personal in it. It was a friendly chat about Easthallows and its inhabitants, local news. “I knew that if I had such strong urges toward that cute, blond witch, I wouldn’t let another male too close.”

  Schooling his features to make sure his emotions were in check, Ian turned away. “For a being who has lived as long as you have, Finn O’Malley, you don’t understand much. Keep your remarks to yourself.”

  But as he suspected, the vampire was relentless. “You’re the one with no perspective. You know nothing is eternal except regret.”

  “I’m a shifter.”

  “And you are mortal. Same as me, even if our life span is longer. But through centuries, I know for a fact that regret is not something you want to live with.”

  “So speaks the man who’s friends with a member of the High Council.”

  “So speaks the man who has more regrets than he wishes to bear.”

  Again, Ian couldn’t help but look at her. “She would be in great danger, if we were ever to be together.”

  “And she’s not right now?”

  Ian cringed. “She doesn’t want me.”

  Saying the words was like slicing through flesh, making it even more real.

  Finn snorted and put his back to the wall, his hands in his pockets. “How come I can smell her need for you from this distance and you can’t?”

  Something snapped at his words and he gripped the annoying Irishman before sending him flying across the room. The insufferable man laughed as he slammed against the opposite wall.

  Sera stood abruptly and lost balance. Hunter went to grab her elbow, but the animalistic growl from Ian stopped his movement. Instead, Ian sprinted to her side and circled her hips. The contact and the unique scent of her immediately calmed him down.

  “What’s going on?” The witch was definitely annoyed.

  Hunter looked and frowned at Finn who was now sitting on the floor, a stupid smile on his face.

  “Well, Ian threw Finn across the room and growled when you stood up. I’m still at the stage of accepting who the people in my apartment are in reality. And I don’t understand wolf talk yet.”

  Sera sighed deeply. “I’m going to check on Patricia. Boys, try not to break anything.”

  Ian felt like shit. Hunter went to the fridge and offered him and Finn a beer. Ian shook his head, his eyes on the bedroom door.

  He was drawn once more and couldn’t help himself. His whole body just followed her, desperate to be as close as possible.

  By the bed, in the dimly lit bedroom, Sera sat on the bed and gently stroked Patricia’s fur. The werebear hadn’t woken yet, and the more she laid immobile, the more it twisted his gut. Shifters were stronger than mere humans, with an outstanding healing capacity. Something was wrong.

  “Why isn’t she waking up?” When he saw Sera shiver at his question. He had startled her by talking out loud.

  “I don’t know. Her body is healed, but the blows to the head must have done serious damage. Brain injuries are tricky, and I don’t feel quite recovered yet of our latest encounter with our invisible enemy to attempt any healing spell. I’ll try something soon, but I need to be at full power.”

  He had learned that witch magic acted a bit like a battery. Magic flowed through every magical being, but the ability to direct it and create spells, required some sort of accumulation. The more powerful the witch, the longer she could weave spells. At the thought, something popped into his mind.

  “You can recharge, right? Your friend Valeria did this with me when Sanctuary was attacked last year.”

  Sera’s hand on Patricia stilled. “What do you mean by recharge?”

  “It was an emergency situation, Asher had ordered me to stay inside, protect the people there as he ran to attack the rogue Enforcers. Valeria was still recovering from that pneumonia, and she wanted to help. So, she... recharged on me.”

  Her mouth opened and closed. When she spoke,
her voice was cold as ice. “Well, I’m surprised Asher didn’t eviscerate you when he learned that.”

  Ian wasn’t sure how to respond to her sudden change of behavior. Sera was normally so sweet and understanding. What had come over her?

  “I don’t know if she told him, but he would have known. There were at least twenty people and shifters in the kitchen when she did it. Someone was bound to have told him. Probably Patricia.”

  The advantage of Sera being blind, Ian thought, was she was less conscious of the emotions mirrored on her face. In an instant, the ice had thawed, and she gaped, incredulous, before frowning.

  “I doubt Valeria would have... done it with so many people present.”

  And now he was starting to feel lost. Their exchange didn’t make any sense. “Well, Valeria kisses Asher all the time in front of the entire Sanctuary, and I don’t see her complaining.”

  As she exhaled sharply and shook her head, it dawned on Ian what the witch was referring to. It made him outraged and hot all at the same time. Sera thought he had sex with Valeria to help her recharge.

  “I’m not so perverted as to take a woman in front of anybody. I’ve always liked Valeria, but I knew early on that she was Asher’s. That’s how little you think of me?”

  Shaking her head, Sera turned more toward him, her face pained. “I’m sorry... when you talked of recharge, it’s the first method that came to mind.”

  “So, sex is a way of recharging magic... same as kissing.”

  “Not exactly. Kissing is just a vector to take the energy from another magical being. It’s an intimate gesture that opens the natural barriers and allows the witch to take what she needs. Sex... it’s not about taking. It’s an amplification of the magic that flows through the witch.”

  Ian nodded and crossed his arms. “I understand now why I felt drained after that kiss.”

  “That kind of connection is rarely used apart from emergencies. And only with people of our world. Magic in humans is too low.”

  Ian looked at Patricia and back at her. “If you need it, you can use me. To recharge your batteries, I mean. A kiss. If it can help Patricia...”

  “I thought about it. But we’re not out of the woods, and, with Patricia wounded, and me still recharging so to speak, Finn and you are our last line of defense.”

  “The storm is slowing down, I doubt our mystery attacker will risk anything now. You said it was powerful, but even it would need to regain its power once more. As soon as the weather dies down completely, and the roads clear, we’ll go back to Sanctuary. At least there, we’ll see it coming. So, I think that replenishing your magic with mine is the best way to go.”

  Sera’s hands returned to Patricia. She clearly hesitated and the more the silence stretched, the more uneasiness churned in his gut. “What’s on your mind, Sera? What are you not telling me?”

  Pushing herself away from the bed, she carefully walked in his direction, stopping a few feet from him. “Did you know that each being has magic in it? And that in each of us, our magic has a particular... color?”

  Sidetracked again, Ian tried to see where she was going with her question.

  “Like an aura? I thought they were difficult to see.”

  She nodded. “They are. But I started seeing them within a week of being blind. As clearly and as vividly as when I could use my eyes.”

  “You see the soul of people?”

  “No. The aura is more like the essence. There’s not a lot written or known about them. They are both the definition of a person and the sum of his or her experiences. I see its color, I sense its vibe. It helps me to detect people in a room and define what they are.”

  “Why were you hesitant about telling me this? You think it would freak me out?”

  “No. I doubt anything would freak you out for that matter. But with the aura I also sense the vibe... for example, there is a lot of a guardian in you. A protector. That’s why you’re perfect at being Asher’s beta, his right hand. And with the vibe of the protector, I feel pain too. I guess that your being prevented from protecting your wife and child colored your aura in that way.”

  Fresh pain squeezed his heart and he remained silent. What she just said rang true.

  “I see Asher’s aura as one of a leader. Valeria more of a justice seeker. So, the more I study and think about it, the more I believe that the aura is strongly linked to our kind of magic. And if I do the transfer, or the recharge, as you say, part of the energy would be transferred to me. It would be like choosing between metal music or classical music if you wanted to go to sleep.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following you, Sera.”

  Licking her lips, she continued. “Beside the fact that I think draining you out of your magic in this situation wouldn’t be a good idea, I think that a magic or an energy more suited for healing Patricia is needed.”

  “We’re kind of stranded right now, but as soon as we can leave we will... unless Finn has what you call healing energy.”

  “No, Finn is... he doesn’t have it.”

  Ian blinked before shaking his head in disbelief. “The human cop? You’re kidding me!”

  Something dark and lethal surged inside him, hazing his vision with a halo of red. He must have lashed out because before he could dash to the living room, Sera touched his arm, giving him some sort of calm and control back.

  “Listen, Ian. Humans normally have a white aura. No color, no magic, nothing. Not that I can see. But Hunter, there is a definite blue in it. And I can’t reach his mind and influence him the way I usually do. Also, and this is the most important bit of information, when you were checking out the building with Finn, Hunter helped me out, tending Patricia’s wound. He went to get a bowl of water and rags, and I don’t know what he did, but there was a healing power in the water.”

  Ian looked back at the living room, hearing the voices of the vampire and the cop. “Do you think we’ve been fooled? Is he hiding anything from us?” Worry invaded his mind.

  “Not that I can sense. I have a couple of theories in my mind about what he could be. But I’d need to do some research and it’s not our priority right now. I guess that whatever he is, it flows strongly in his veins. Not enough to be used consciously unless he learns more about it.”

  Gently, Ian put his hand over Sera’s and squeezed. “You want to use him for the recharge.”

  It was a statement that made him want to howl, but he made sure not to let it show.

  “I think something is seriously wrong with Patricia if she hadn’t woken up by now.”

  His body tensed at the idea of Sera touching the human man. Or whatever he was. But Sera wasn’t his. She didn’t want to be his. So be it.

  Taking one step back, breaking the physical contact with her, Ian swallowed hard and nodded.

  “I agree with you, it’s the best possible solution. I’ll go get him.”

  And even if he would have preferred crossing the burning fires of hell instead, he did as she asked.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sera didn’t know how she felt. Right inside her mind, she had seen Ian’s aura turn bright golden to tarnished bronze. And worst of all, she knew what caused it to dim. Her. It would be so easy to damn the gods, destiny, the fates or simple bad luck for her being a witch and this incredible man to be a werewolf. An impossible love. And if she couldn’t protect her heart from the unspeakable sorrow, she could prevent him from suffering about it for the rest of his life. A friend, that she could be. Even if it would kill her.

  Footsteps entered the room.

  “You need to see me, Sera?”

  Hunter’s voice was part curious and part cautious. Wise man.

  “Yes, there is no real change in Patricia’s condition. And we won’t be able to get someone to come here or us go to Sanctuary with her for a few more hours. And I sense something’s wrong with her... I need to try to heal her, or at least detect what could be wrong so I can find a solution.”

  “Great! I’m totally for
it.”

  “Fantastic... and I need you to help me.”

  That made him freeze, but at least he wasn’t running in the other direction.

  “What do you need from me?”

  “Your energy, so to speak.”

  “What? What do you mean, my energy?”

  “In short, I work magic with energy. Battling the ice monsters kind of put my inner charge at zero. I would ask Finn or Ian but taking energy would make them vulnerable. In case of an attack...”

  “Better sacrifice the stupid human first?”

  Sera didn’t detect anger, more like frustration mixed with amusement.

  “No! But you have to admit, against an attack, a vampire and a werewolf kick ass.”

  Finn snorted as he entered the room with Ian and shuffled a little. “A vampire can kick ass on his own, thank you very much.”

  “Stop that!” She didn’t need stupid jokes now. She needed to reassure and convince. Fast.

  “What does that entail?” Again, Hunter seemed eager to know more.

  “I take energy from you, enough to help me, but not too much. At worst, you’ll feel unsteady on your feet for a few minutes, but no more than that. The whole process is pretty quick.”

  Hunter seemed to ponder upon her words for a moment. “Okay. If it can help, I’ll do it. So, what’s the deal? Do I have to lie down? Do some sort of incantation or dance?”

  Sera had to smile at that. “No, just kiss me.”

  Another stunned silence. “You’re kidding me. That’s your trick?”

  She nodded. Still he hesitated. Ian sighed.

  “She’s telling the truth. That’s how it’s done. I did it once. No need to be afraid, human.”

  “Stop calling me that as if I’m no more than a cockroach!”

  The roar in Ian’s voice made her jump. “Then, don’t act like one, and be useful for once!”

  When Hunter crashed his lips on hers, she wasn’t prepared for it. The surprise and the sudden and expected diversion made it difficult for her to focus and switch to the spell. Sensing her tense, Hunter became gentler and cupped her cheek. Her entire body didn’t want him, didn’t want to do this, but she hung on to her control, pushed her thoughts aside and cupped his head.