Surge Of Magic (6 page)

He growled, withdrew, and pounded into her, again heating her to the core. Her fingers dug into the wall, and she pressed her hips back for more. His hands roamed up to her tits again, and when he pinched her nipples, every nerve end detonated. He continued to seesaw in and out of her in a natural rhythm that spoke of lust and passion.

She lowered her hands on the wall to change the angle, and on the next thrust, he filled her to the hilt and caused another climax to claim her—this one more powerful than the last. Holy crap. From her fingers down to her toes, she was glowing neon blue as tiny sparks flew off of her like mini fireworks.

Seconds later, Kip’s hot seed blasted into her and he grunted and groaned. As his pulsating slowed, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder. “That was amazing.”

She’d remember this for a long time. Teagan slowly eased up and Kip stepped back. “Let me get something to clean us up with,” she said.

Teagan walked across the hall to the bathroom, grabbed a clean towel, and wet it. Once she swiped herself, she returned and had a lot of fun cleaning him up.

Kip grabbed the towel from her. “Enough. You want me to start all over again?”

She was already a bit sore. “I’m good, but how about we put some clothes on and then talk?”

‡

O
nce Teagan and
Kip dressed, they returned to the kitchen where she fixed two cups of coffee, needing the caffeine jolt to keep from falling apart. “Let’s sit in the living room. I know you have questions,” she said.

“You can say that again.” Kip carried both cups over to the coffee table and set them down. She sat on the sofa and patted the seat next to her for Kip.

“I bet you want to know why I had to pull away,” she said, not able to make eye contact.

His lips pressed together. “You mean break up with me. I also would like to know why you refused to answer my calls. I’ll leave Randy’s injury out of the equation.”

His words cut her deeply. “I’m sorry, but it was for your own good. I had another vision.” She held up her hand to stop him from commenting. “Actually, I’ve had several visions, but the last one was the worst.”

Kip picked up his cup and blew the steam away from the liquid. “I appreciate you worrying about me, but I don’t need you or anyone else to watch over me. I can take care of myself.”

“Randy probably thought the same thing and look what happened to him.”

“I’m not Randy; besides, he was careless.” He sipped his coffee then set it down. “My brother has nothing to do with what happened between us.”

This wasn’t going as she’d hoped. “I never meant to hurt you.”

He looked off to the side and drew in one side of his mouth. “But you did.”

“You’re not going to make this easy on me.”

He leaned in closer and placed his hand on her wrist. “Should I?”

Her stomach twisted. “No. You have every right to be angry and hurt. Remember the night we had our big fight?” she asked.

“You mean when you practically hurled a book at my head?”

He was being silly. “I didn’t know I had that talent then. It just happened.”

Kip sank back against the sofa. “I realized that later. I’ve replayed every word in my head and can’t for the life of me figure out what I did wrong.”

Teagan inhaled. “You did nothing wrong. I was the one with the problem.” She explained about the series of visions, starting with the first quick one and ending with her seeing him swimming in blood.

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

His concern-filled angst made her want to vomit as her heart dropped to her stomach. “The vision involved me being
with
you, so I figured if I wasn’t
with
you, then the event wouldn’t occur.”

His brows rose. “Are you kidding me? You avoided me this whole time in an attempt to alter fate? Did you even think to talk to me about this? I thought what we had between us was special. Fuck. I’m more hurt because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”

He made it sound worse than it was, though she couldn’t argue with his logic. “You’re right, but I thought if we were together, you might have been thinking about me—about us—and been careless like Randy.”

Kip picked up his coffee once more and drank some. “Are you saying you’d rather kick me out of your life because you’re afraid something bad will happen to me, than enjoy what we have together?”

She dropped her head back. “I don’t know what I want. The way you just phrased it makes me sound like an idiot, but I had my reasons, and they were good ones too. Look, I’m confused about all of this. I do want you, but I’m not sure we belong together.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right? Did I just make love with a different woman? That woman and I belong together.”

Waves of confusion slammed into her. “Can you give me some time to sort this out?”

“Will it make a difference what I say?”

Teagan couldn’t feel worse if she tried. “No.”

Once more, he set down his cup. “Teagan, listen to me. Life can’t be planned like that. What happened to my brother was terrible, and hopefully in time, we’ll retrieve what was stolen.”

“Stolen? What was taken?”

“You don’t know? No, how could you? You don’t listen to my messages.” He told her that while the men hadn’t stolen anything from the house, Randy’s powers were gone.

“What? How is that possible?”

He shook his head. “I wish I knew. Randy thinks the knife they stabbed him with was imbued with some kind of special powers. Now, he can’t control electricity on any level.”

Her heart ached. “Will he be okay though?”

“In time.” He clasped her hands in his. “Bad things happen to good people. Maybe if we’d been warned, he wouldn’t have answered the door, though I understand that even with a warning, I might not be able to stop something from happening.”

He didn’t seem to see the big picture, though now, she wasn’t sure if she really believed her rationale either. Teagan’s powers of premonition might not be as powerful as she’d thought. “I get it, I do, but I still need time.”

Kip scooted closer and stroked her face. “As long as you keep me in the loop, I’ll give you all the time you need.”

She couldn’t ask for more. “Thank you.”

He stood. “You have a lot of thinking to do, and I have a lot of calls to make. Somehow, I have to figure out a way to help Randy get his magic back.”

As much as she didn’t want to ask and become embroiled in the horror, she had to. “How could a knife take someone’s powers?” Shivers raced up her body at the heinous act.

“That is the million dollar question.”

*

The next morning,
Kip met with his partners Jackson Murdoch and Connor McKinnon, along with Kalan Murdoch. The McKinnon and Associates office was on the west edge of town. They were gathered around a conference table with a carafe of coffee in the center next to a plate of donuts that Jackson had brought in. Kip had to work hard not to touch them. Those damned animal shifters had a metabolism that allowed them to eat whatever they wanted and not gain weight, lucky bastards.

“Rye said he was available to help if we need him,” Kalan said.

That was a relief. “Having the Alpha around could expedite things.”

“How did your folks handle the news?” Connor asked Kip.

“Actually, they were calmer than I thought they would be and were even willing to wait until this morning before rushing over to see Randy. I warned them not to speak about the knife or his lack of magic to anyone.”

“Good. Did your folks have any input as to how something like this could have happened?” Kalan asked. “I’m not really well-versed in the Wendayan ways.”

“Dad thought something like this had occurred many years ago, but he couldn’t remember anything about the circumstances.”

Kalan placed his elbows on the table and formed an A-shape with his fingers. “I think we need to speak with James—or rather I’ll speak with James. After Elana’s parents were murdered, James provided us with valuable information, so I’m hoping he’ll be willing to help us again.”

Kip’s pulse soared. He’d heard about the immortal but had never spoken with him. “What can he do to help Randy?”

Kalan smiled. “I believe James can do anything. No one is sure of his powers, but he’s helped both Rye and me several times recently. He told me, however, that he wants us mere mortals to handle our own affairs when we can, but since this isn’t some squabble, I’m hoping he’ll be willing to lend a hand.”

Kalan was right that this wasn’t some petty argument gone wrong. “How about I come with you? I might need to convince him that if the Changelings are able to take a Wendayan’s power once, they could do it again.” He shuddered at the thought, wondering if they’d come after him at some point. “Every Wendayan is in danger.”

“If we can’t assure the witches that they’ll be safe, there could be a mass exodus from the town,” Connor said.

“Or the Wendayans would go on a witch hunt of their own,” Kip said. “Pun intended. It could result in way too many deaths. Remember, we aren’t without our own resources.”

Jackson polished off his first cup of coffee. “Kip is right. Some of the Wendayan’s could fend off a wolf or two, but many couldn’t. Kip, you could probably fry the little suckers if you wanted to.”

“I’ve never used my magic on a human, though technically the Changelings don’t deserve to be called that. When I was a kid, Randy and I were goofing around, and I accidentally zapped a squirrel. I think my powers are now closer to a Taser than a live wire, though to be honest, I haven’t spent any time testing out whether or not I could kill a person with a few joules of electricity,” he said with a smirk. He picked up his University of North Carolina mug full of coffee and sipped it, enjoying the warmth of the brew.

Jackson leaned over the table and poured himself a second cup. “Still, you can handle yourself better than say Deanna.”

The blood almost drained from his brain as the potential horror sunk in. “Yeah, and I’m glad I asked her to stay with Randy.”

“Without powers, along with being weak, he may not be much help,” Connor offered.

He gave his boss the finger. “Way to cheer me up. Thank goodness I have good security at the house.” His dad had the same powers he and Randy did, but many of the Wendayans, like Teagan, only had visions, which wouldn’t be much help in defending themselves. Still, the Changelings might find their magic useful.

A sick clawing scraped his gut. He’d have to warn Teagan, Deanna, and his folks to be on the lookout, but they’d have to swear not to leak the information to any others. A widespread panic was the last thing Silver Lake needed.

Kalan pushed his chair back. “I have to be at work in a little over an hour, but we can see if James is home now if you want to speak with him.”

Kip shouldn’t be excited, as the circumstances were grave, but he’d always wanted to meet the man—or rather the immortal. “Sure.”

Connor gathered his papers. “I’ll let Rye know where we are in this investigation.”

Kalan held up a finger. “I forgot to mention that I swapped assignments with another officer and will be the lead on Randy’s case. I will need to speak with him, but I think he’ll have a better chance at having his powers returned if a shifter is on the job.”

Relief poured through him. “Amen and thank you.”

On the way to their vehicles, Kalan had said that James might appear strange, but that was because he was trying not to divulge too much information. That made little sense, but Kip thought it best not to ask why. He figured any help James could provide would be beneficial.

Because Kalan had to head back to the station after speaking with James, they drove separately. Kip had no idea where the immortal lived, so he followed Kalan. By the time they turned into the lake area, Kip’s palms were sweating, but he couldn’t decide if it was because he was about to meet an icon, or if fear was seeping into his pores at the extent of damage these evil Changelings could inflict on his kind.

When they drove past the lake where many of the shifters resided, Kip rolled down his window and breathed in the fresh air. It was probably his imagination, but the trees seemed taller and the grass greener.