Missing Magic (11 page)

She could only hope it wasn’t Mick.

From the set line of his mouth, she guessed
Cenrick hoped the same.

Carefully, they skirted the side of the
house. The motion sensor light in the front of the garage clicked
on, but no one came outside to investigate.

The ground felt damp and spongy underfoot,
despite the dead grass, or maybe because of it. Like some horrible
chemical had seeped into the soil, polluting everything within
reach.

The smell grew stronger. Waves of nausea and
dizziness made her head spin. She could only hope Cenrick was all
right.

Taking a deep breath and fighting not to gag,
she leaned on the brick for a moment. Every instinct screamed at
her to leave. As a cop, she’d learned to trust her instincts. “I
don’t like this,” she told him.

Making a sound of frustration, he reached for
the back door. “Look, quit worrying. Last time, that thing –
whatever it is – took me by surprise. Now, I’m better prepared.” He
tried the knob with his gloved hand. To her surprise, it
turned.

“They left it unlocked.” Shaking her head,
she swallowed her trepidation and followed him inside. “This is
beginning to feel like a trap.”

She’d barely spoken when the light flared,
pulsing.

Sickly yellow-green flooded the kitchen,
bathing Cenrick’s face. Immediately, he staggered.

“Everything’s spinning.” He spoke through
clenched teeth, sounding like a man in pain. He inhaled deeply,
once, twice, the rasping loud in the quiet.

“That’s what I was afraid of.” Dee grabbed
him. “You’d better hope your theory about my touch shielding you
works.”

As soon as her skin touched his, the
cloudiness vanished from his eyes.

He grinned at her. “I think it does.”

With her hand on his arms, he was able to
stand. A moment later, he slid his fingers through hers,
intertwining them.

“Don’t let go,” he told her.

“You seem better.” She squinted up at him.
“Just because I touched you. What’s up with that?”

He flexed his other hand. “I’m capable again.
I don’t understand why, but you protect me.”

“Either that or they’ve turned off the
machine.”

But the evil, pulsing glow still filled the
room.

“If you’re okay now, let’s see what we can do
to get to Mick. I’ll make sure not to let go of you.”

Side by side, they moved forward.

Despite the glow, the place appeared
deserted. In fact, the house was so silent they could hear the
ticking of the kitchen clock on the wall.

“Mick’s bedroom is this way,” Dee whispered.
“This still feels… off. Wrong.”

“Bad,” he finished for her. “I agree. But we
have no choice.”

Hand in hand, down the eerily lit hall they
went, peering in rooms as they passed. They saw no sign of the
bodyguard who’d been left behind, nor of the Fae they’d seen
shuffled inside.

Worse, when they reached Mick’s room, the
unmade bed was empty.

Cenrick cursed. “He’s not here.”

“No, but I am.” Another voice, from the hall
behind them. “She said you’d come.”

Dee spun, pulling out her gun. In her haste
to draw her weapon, she yanked her hand free of Cenrick’s.
Immediately, he fell to the floor, gasping.

The man rushed her. Pivoting, she danced
away, bringing up her revolver to bear on him. “Freeze.”

He laughed. “Point your gun all you want,
lady. I’m not sure how a Fae like you can hold metal, but I’ve got
the machine amped up full power. She wanted him. You’ll be an added
bonus.”

She’d been right – this had been a trap. That
explained why neither Natasha or her helper had even so much as
glanced at Dee’s parked car.

And they wanted Cenrick. She glanced at him,
thrashing weakly on the floor near the doorway. No way could she
get to him, not yet.

Seeing the direction of her gaze, the guard
laughed again and pointed to Cenrick. “In a second, you’ll be just
as helpless as he is.”

He thought her Fae
? That meant he was
human, though she supposed it didn’t matter. One shot would take
care of him either way.

“Put your hands over your head,” she
yelled.

The guy didn’t move.

“Do it. Now!”

Instead, he took a step towards her. “Any
moment,” he repeated, his expectant gaze never leaving her face. He
didn’t seem to know or care that she had a 357 Magnum pointed at
him.

Dee’s hands tightened on the gun. “I said
freeze.”

Instead, he kept coming.

With no choice, she squeezed the trigger.

The guy dropped and rolled, a half-second
before.

Her bullet went wild.

The man crashed into her legs.

She went down, her gun flying across the
carpet.

The man grabbed her. She elbowed him in the
stomach.

With a cry of pain, he released her.

On her hands and knees, she went for the gun,
but he got there first and snatched it up.

Damn it.

This time, the guard’s laugh was full of
triumph. Her gun in his hand, he pointed it at her. “Now you
freeze,” he snarled.

Dee froze. She had to get to Cenrick and
touch him, but first, she had to disable Natasha’s guard.

A quick glance at Cenrick showed her he still
lay face down and unmoving.

Thinking quickly, she dropped to her knees
and began to moan as though she finally felt the effects of the
machine.

“See,” the man taunted. “Now you’re mine.” He
came closer to gloat and she knew she had him.

“Oh, yeah? Guess again.” Using her shoulder,
Dee pushed herself to her feet and rammed him.

Surprised, he fell backwards, dropping her
pistol and hitting his head on the door jam. He crashed to the
floor and stayed there, unmoving.

First, she grabbed her gun. Then she went for
Cenrick.

Grabbing him by both arms, she pressed
herself full against him. “Come on Cenrick, come back to me.”

He didn’t move.

She began to feel a teeny bit worried.
“Cenrick? Are you there?

No answer.

Crap.

Checking her watch, she saw they’d been
inside the house nearly half an hour. No telling how long before
Natasha and her other helper returned.

The other unconscious man stirred.

Great. Now what should she do?

She heard the answer as though someone had
whispered it.
Touch Cenrick again. More
.

Right now her only contact with him was
through her hands.

One more quick glanced at the guard assured
her he was still out. Great.

She climbed on top of Cenrick, stretching
herself out until her entire body touched him.

Body to body. Soul to Soul.
Again she
could have sworn she heard a whispering voice.

Beneath her, Cenrick moved.

“Dee?” He rasped, his voice weak.

“Right here.”

“By the Plains of Lothar,” he groaned.

She rolled off him, keeping an eye on the
other guy as she stretched out by Cenrick’s side. “Are you all
right?”

“Now I am.” He flexed one hand. “My strength
is returning.”

The guard made a snuffling sound.

“Cenrick?” Dee sat up, keeping only her hands
on his arms. “We’ve got to go.”

He rolled over. “No.” He closed his eyes.
“Not until we find this machine.”

“And Mick, she reminded him.”

His eyes opened. “And Mick.” He brought his
hand up to cover hers. “Keep touching me.” To her relief, this time
he sounded almost normal. “Can you help me up?”

“Sure.” Helping him to his feet, she pointed
out the unconscious guard. “He’s out, but I don’t know how long
he’ll stay that way.”

“Come on. Let’s find it and destroy the
blasted thing.”

Still gripping her hand, he led the way down
the hall.

“I feel… something,” Dee whispered.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but it raises the hair on my
arms.”

“Maybe the machine’s properties still
linger.”

But though they searched the house, they saw
no sign of any mechanical device, nor of Mick or the other hapless
Fae who’d arrived earlier.

“That machine has got to be here.”

“The guard mentioned he’d turned it up, so
it’s got to be around somewhere,” she said. “No one but us was here
to move anything.”

Except the voice she’d heard
whispering.
Should she mention that?

“Magic.” He made the word sound like a curse.
“They used magic to move those Fae, the machine, everything.”

“But the house is still glowing.”

“It’s fading.”

She squinted. “You’re right. Since the
machine is gone…”

“The glow has gone with it.” He motioned
towards the back door. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They made it to her car and drove off without
incident.

“I don’t believe this.” Dee wanted to hit the
steering wheel. “Where could they all have gone?”

“I don’t know,” he said, sounding as unhappy
as she felt. “But that’s the thing about magic. They could be
anywhere in your world.”

“But not Rune?”

“No.” He sounded confident. “A machine like
that would never make it across the veil.”

“One less place to search. Any idea how we
can find them?”

“I’ll need to contact the Mage. Tracking them
down might require magical help.”

She nodded, turning onto the street that led
to her apartment complex. “You know, up until today I really
believed that Mick wasn’t involved.”

“After today, there’s no doubt.”

“It’s possible he’s being coerced.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

She didn’t answer. What could she say? The
man she’d grown up with, who’d been the closest thing to a brother
she’d ever known, was now an alleged criminal.

“When we find him—.” A cold fury made the
certainty in his voice chilling.

“
If
we do.”

“Oh, we will. Not only will we find Mick,
we’ll find that machine of his and destroy it.”

She barely glanced at him. “Do you think
so?”

“We have no choice.”

“But how?”

“All magic leaves a trace. Mort or the Oracle
will be able to find it.”

Dee glanced at him. He gave no signs of
fighting the desire that hammered her, the same urgent, insistent
lust as the last time they’d faced the soul-stealing machine. It
had taken every bit of willpower to keep from attempting to seduce
him. Only the embarrassing thought of what she’d done last time –
and how he’d pushed her away – kept her from climbing all over him
right there in her car. Again.

Though she’d studied him, she’d seen no
obvious signs of need. He’d regarded her the way one did a working
partner, no swollen body or eyes dark with passion.

She shouldn’t have been so disappointed, so
hurt, but she was. Her breasts felt swollen, her body sensitive and
restless. She found it difficult to concentrate on the subject at
hand. Magic. They’d been discussing magic, and getting the Mage or
the Oracle to help them.

“Are you saying we’ll have to go back to
Rune?” Finally, she pulled into a spot and parked, pocketing her
key and avoiding touching him.

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

“But not tonight, right?”

He smiled, a flash of white in the darkness.
“No, not tonight.”

She shivered. Even the husky timbre of his
voice acerbated her need. And he was obviously too weary to think
about it.

Climbing out of the car, she hurried up the
sidewalk to her apartment ahead of him. The last thing she wanted
was to make a fool of herself again. Within thirty minutes of
unlocking her front door, she planned to be in her room getting
read for bed. Alone.

Cenrick followed her in the apartment,
apparently too exhausted to even speak. After a quick stop in the
kitchen to grab a glass of water, she hurried down the hallway,
tossed off a good night over her shoulder, and headed for her
bedroom.

Any other night, she might have closed the
door to keep him out.

This night, she left it open.

KEEPING HIMSELF from touching Dee was the
most difficult thing he’d ever done, bar none.

The instant she’d touched him, desire had
slammed into him, the same as before, a direct result of having his
magic drained from him, then returned in a rush.

But this time, feeling the first twinge of
lust stir his body, he’d prepared himself to fight it. For her.
Dee. He’d humiliated them both once. He would not so dishonor her
again.

One look from her and his body burned, one
accidental whiff of her light floral scent and he was hard. Yet,
though his heart pounded and his blood ran hot through his veins,
he gave no outward sign of his inner battle.

Still, he finally was able to relax his iron
control when she went off to bed early.

Then she’d left her bedroom door open, when
she usually closed it.

Was this an invitation? The mere thought had
started the sensual images playing in his mind.

Dee, Dee, Dee.

Would his desire be so strong for another
woman? He couldn’t help but ponder the question.

Somehow, he was certain of the answer. While
the magical repercussions might send his libido into overdrive, the
strength of his need was solely because of the woman. Dee.

Knowing this, he could get no sleep. For
hours he paced the confines of her small apartment, wondering how
such a thing could be possible. Finally, hours after she’d turned
out her light, he made the couch ready and attempted to sleep.

In the morning he awoke from dreams of
holding her to find his arms empty. Dee’s sharp scream, quickly cut
off, brought him to his feet. He yanked on his trousers, grabbed
his crystal dagger, and ran.

Sliding into the kitchen with his dagger
drawn, he prepared to do battle.

Both Dee and the silver-haired man talking to
her looked up in surprise.