Wicked Bad: WIcked³, Book 2 Page 3

  Three months she’d been without magic, yet today it seemed to be everywhere. She had to call Conway. She couldn’t escape the conclusion that someone knew she was here, and they weren’t family. Family wouldn’t try to kill her.

  She cut the steaming hot dogs into chewable pieces and spoke to the dog, who’d followed the aroma into the kitchen. “Looks like my adventure is over, dog. No more laundry days, no more tips from friendly truckers. No more freedom. You are lucky, dog. No one wants anything from you but company.” She chuckled. “I can’t keep calling you dog, can I? Not after you rescued me. How about…Prince?”

  The dog barked excitedly, lifting his paw against her leg. “Prince it is. And I’ll treat you like one as soon as we get home. That is, if we can’t find anyone to claim you.”

  She set down the food and went to her purse to grab her cell phone. It wasn’t there. She looked all around the living room. Nothing. “You’re kidding me. I saw that phone before I left work. I know I had it with me.” She buried her face in her hands. “It must have fallen out when I hit the pavement. I don’t remember…” She lifted her head and looked at the dog again. “Anything. I don’t remember anything after I fell. How am I still alive? I was unconscious. Easy pickings. And no offense, Prince, but I don’t think you would have been much of an obstacle. You should be a poochie popsicle. Unless you have some fire breathing talents I don’t know about.”

  Prince tilted his head before lying down on the floor beside the couch, watching her intently.

  “How did we get back here?” She rubbed her throbbing temples and closed her eyes, desperate to remember.

  “I carried you.”

  Harrison was so startled she fell off the couch, landing on her hip with a surprised yelp of pain. “Son of a bitch!”

  Him. It was Jacob. He’d found her. Either that or the bump on her head had caused an incredibly realistic hallucination.

  He raised one perfect, dark blond eyebrow. “Perhaps. But now is not the time to talk about my mother. You’re injured. I’ve returned with a tea that will heal you.”

  Jacob turned without another word and headed into her small kitchenette, looking for all the world like a giant at a child’s tea party as he filled a pot with water and placed it on the stove.

  Harrison made a face at Prince, who hadn’t reacted to the new arrival at all. “What? You only do one rescue a night?” The dog rolled onto his back playfully. “Don’t think cuteness gets you off the hook, buddy. Not right now.”

  As she spoke to the dog her mind was racing. How had he found her? How was she going to get out of here? Where the hell was her cell phone, now, when she needed to call her cousin and get out of Dodge?

  And wasn’t it just too coincidental that she’d been magically attacked only hours before one of the two people she’d most wanted to avoid showed up in her apartment?

  “I can feel you panicking over there, and I have to tell you that I’m a little insulted. We went through a lot of trouble to find you, Harrison Abbott. The least you can do is pretend to be polite. In spite of your behavior, we did save your life. We are, after all, your matches.”

  “We?” Harrison stood on shaky legs, looking nervously around the small one bedroom apartment. “So you’re not alone then?” She shouldn’t be surprised. They did look…close…the last time she’d see them.

  He shook his head with his back to her as he poured the heated concoction into one of her cups. He carried it carefully in his massive hands, as careful as if it were the finest china, and held it out to her. “Drink first.”

  Harrison crossed her arms defensively. “How do I know what that’s for?”

  His jaw clenched. “Now I really am insulted. I’ve never used a potion to physically harm someone, Ms. Abbott. This will heal you. I would think you’d want to be in fighting form to have this conversation.”

  “Well, set it down first.” She inwardly winced as a muscle jerked in his temple and his dark eyes narrowed. Another insult, she knew, but that was better than allowing their hands to touch. He was right. She was in no shape to fight right now. Not against an attacker, or the energy that would surely arise between them on contact.

  He set the cup on the coffee table and took a dramatic step back, away from her. “Drink.”

  “Bossy.” But she wanted to. The headache made it too hard for her to focus. And she needed answers.

  She took a sip, and he seemed to relax, his mouth curving up in a sober smile. He was incredibly attractive, damn him. Adonis, was a comparison that sprung to mind. Or Atlas. He certainly looked like he could carry the world on those broad shoulders. His blond hair and black eyes were a startling combination. And he was so big. She’d always towered over everyone, apart from her brothers. He could no doubt pick her up with one hand.

  Or crush her.

  He shook his head. “We haven’t gotten off to the best start. Not even any formal introductions. I’m Jacob Gryffin. My family moved from Massachusetts to Argentina when I was very young, but we should still be known among your family’s circles.”

  Gryffin. The tattoo she recalled on his back suddenly made sense, and the name jogged something in her memory. Her endlessly boring studies of Magian families. The Abbotts may be considered, for whatever reason, a top tier family in Boston, but, if she remembered correctly, the Gryffins had been akin to royalty. Until something happened that had caused them to leave the country, and their standing in the magical world, in disgrace.

  Jacob lifted his chin, arrogant pride coming off of him in waves.

  As if she, or any member of her family cared about lineages and histories. What she did care about was what she’d heard in the stairwell. Snooty Abbott bitch. “You and your friend…Ric, right? You obviously already knew who I was. Or who you thought I was when we, um, bumped into each other on the stairs.”

  He flinched, his cheeks darkening, though his voice held a defensive note. “What Magian male doesn’t? You are powerful and beautiful with an impeccable pedigree. The most powerful female Magian of a generation. Other women envy you, and mothers all over our world wish you were their daughter-in-law. Including mine.”

  Pedigree? “I’m not livestock. And this is the new millennium. My pedigree doesn’t matter. I don’t know how long you’ve been out of the loop, but we don’t force pairings based on social class anymore. Proxenos usually see to that.”

  She took another sip of the tea, feeling the potion easing the ache in her head, though not her irritation. Talking Jacob wasn’t nearly as interesting as kinky, man-loving Jacob. Talking Jacob sounded like he had a giant iron pole up his backside. Kind of like the man at the diner this afternoon. “Were you spying on me today?”

  From his expression he knew exactly what she was talking about. “I had to make sure Jane Smith, waitress, was the right woman. And I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t run if I’d come in without that subterfuge. Looking for you these last three months has been difficult. Then I find you here, living like this.”

  He made a face, looking around her cozy apartment as though it were a garbage heap before he continued. “Seeing how much danger you put yourself into tonight made it clear it was time to put a stop to this. If I hadn’t found you, you would’ve been killed. Do you understand that? You’ve had your fun, you’ve played poor little human, put yourself in harms way and now it is time to settle down with your triad.”

  Unbearable… Insufferable… No multi-syllable word could cover it. She took one final gulp of the cooling potion to hold back her growl. He was an ass. “I have no triad. And when I tell my family how you’ve behaved, what you’ve said, I’m sure the Proxenos will conclude that regardless of our magical compatibility, we are not a match.”

  He crossed his arms, a broad smile, a real smile curving his lips for the first time, taking Harrison’s breath away. “I had a feeling you’d say that. Which is why I added another dose of your concealment potion, as well as a bit of binding I made myself, to the healing draught.”

 
She gasped, the cup dropping out of her suddenly nerveless fingers. “You said—”

  “I said I’ve never physically harmed anyone with my potions. I never said I was above a little manipulation.”

  At his words she bolted for the door, determined to escape into the hallway, scream for the neighbors. Anything. If he was willing to do this, had he done more? Something like making her believe she was about to be murdered to scare her back with him?

  Jacob grabbed her shoulders and electricity shot through her body. She watched her magic reach out and twine with his, gold and blue arcing between them. Felt it heat her to her core. Damn it. It felt as amazing as she’d known it would.

  He groaned at the pleasurable sensation. “That’s right. You can’t use your powers for now, but they will come when I call them. And so will you, before this is done.”

  She heard the words she was surprised he knew, the ones few but the elders and protectors were given for fear of abusing the power, followed by a whooshing sound as the transport portal opened beside them.

  “You can’t do this. It goes against Magian law.”

  He gazed into her eyes, the darkness in his giving nothing away. “We already have one thing in common, Harrison. Neither of us likes to follow the rules.”

  She heard Prince bark, and then nothing but the roaring of the portal as they flew to their destination. She refused to close her eyes, meeting his glare with one of her own. Feeling his need as if it were her own. Hating him for making her feel it.

  When she got her powers back she would find a way to make him suffer for the rest of his stuffy, gorgeous, miserable life.

  She just had to resist him until then.

  Prince was licking her knee where it stuck out from under the covers. She’d been asleep. Thank the holy witches, it had only been a dream. She’d definitely hit her head too hard.

  Why couldn’t she have had one of her usual dreams about the dark eyed Magian? The kind where he took her the way he’d taken his partner in the stairwell. Where he’d bent her over and filled her with thrusts so powerful she saw heaven.

  She licked her lips and rubbed her naked thighs together at the familiar ache that train of thought always caused. No. Instead she had to imagine him a pompous douche who cared more about bloodlines than lust. Yet, he’d still been compelling. Still drawn her. Yeah, good thing it was only a dream.

  “Stop, Prince, that tickles.” She slid her hand beneath the covers and pushed the dog’s head away as his tongue lapped at her hip.

  A deep voice startled the smile from her face. “But I bet it tastes delicious.”

  “Hell and damn,” she muttered, pulling herself quickly to a sitting position. She held the covers high against her chest, suddenly aware that she was completely naked. And knowing now how she got that way. “I was hoping you were a head injury.”

  Jacob quirked his lips, looking cool and unaffected in a white linen shirt and khakis. “Flattering. You’ve been sleeping for hours. I’ve brought you breakfast and something to wear. I’d rather you ate naked of course, but a good host always has to offer.”

  “Where are my clothes?”

  He shrugged, tossing a dark blue summer dress on the edge of the bed before turning toward the small table that was heavily laden with food. “Burned. A woman as beautiful as you are should be in fairy-charmed lace, the finest satins, not that monstrosity.”

  “Man, you are something else. What century are you from? Wait—don’t answer that. And don’t turn around.”

  She watched the tension is his shoulders as he complied, dropping the covers and rising up onto her knees to reach the dress. Prince took the opportunity to lick her stomach, making her chuckle in frustration. “I’m glad he didn’t leave you behind too, big guy, but you have to stop licking me or I won’t be able to get this dress on.”

  “Enough.”

  Harrison dropped the dress and covered her ears, the echoing power of Jacob’s voice like a physical blow. She watched in horror as the sound flung Prince from the bed and up against the wall.

  “You horrible, horrible man! How could you do that to an innocent—”

  Jacob wasn’t listening to her. He was too busy glaring at the dog. “Good idea or not, it’s over now. I will not be treated like the villain while you get your cheap thrill. Show yourself. Now, Ric.”

  Harrison scrambled to the other side of the bed, her stomach churning with nausea as she watched the adorable mutt transform into Jacob’s partner in crime. His silky black hair fell rakishly over one eye as he stood with shoulders back, a wicked grin on his full lips, mirrored in those laughing hazel eyes. “It was worth it.”

  Her anger was a living thing inside her. Through a red haze she watched as the beautiful bronze Ric chuckled softly, and Jacob eyed her the way she imagined one would a cobra. Smart man.

  She slipped the sundress over her head, running one steady hand through her tangled hair, and walked toward the breakfast table. She saw the eggs benedict, the crepes, some wildly exotic looking fruit. But she wasn’t hungry.

  They may have bound her magic, but they hadn’t bound her hands. With two fists she grabbed a food laden plate and a pitcher full of orange juice and threw them both in the men’s direction. A handful of eggs landed on Ric’s smooth chest, his shocked expression so perfect that it almost made her smile. Almost.

  Glass broke and food flew across the elegant bedroom, and still they weren’t getting the message. “Get. Out.”

  Ric opened his mouth as if to argue, but Jacob grabbed his arm when he saw her pick up the sharp, carving knife. “We’ll come back later.”

  The door closed, and they were gone in a heartbeat. Harrison heard the lock turn, and Ric’s whispered, “I like her,” before watching with satisfaction as the tip of the knife imbedded itself in the wood.

  It hadn’t gone through their hearts, but it was enough.

  For now.

  Chapter Four

  Harrison was loathe to admit it, but a part of her was relieved to be in a magical household again. And there could be no doubt that she was. Not when, five minutes after her tantrum, the room began to clean itself. The chilling food and shards of china and glass disappeared, and she decided clean sounded good. She needed a shower.

  From the view out the bathroom window, she knew she wasn’t in Massachusetts anymore. The plant life was too exotic, the air too balmy. She must be at his family’s home. Argentina. Great. It would be no quick bridge across the river to get home now. No way she could let any of her new friends know she was okay.

  The room began to change when she started to take off her clothes, turning into a rainforest, complete with waterfall. Lush green vines twined down the stone wall.

  “Nice charm.” Harrison curled her toes in the soft, fragrant grass. The illusion was perfect, there were even birds singing. She held out her hand and tested the water. It was the perfect temperature. She stepped beneath it and sighed. Exactly the right pressure for her tense muscles. Each drop was like an enchanted massage. Or a kiss.

  Damn, she’d missed this. Her apartment shower spit at her in alternating hot and cold, when the plumbing worked at all.

  Magic had its uses.

  Yet the luxury around her made her all too aware that she was trapped without her own magic. Jacob Gryffin had seen to that. She looked down at her hands, trying to focus her energy. Nothing. What was she going to do? What were they going to do to her? The only way to ensure that the Proxenos could not nullify the match would be consummation. Would they force her?

  She stuck her head beneath the warm spray and closed her eyes, seeing them both in her mind. The real question was, would they have to use force? She couldn’t deny, in spite of her indignation, in spite of all they’d done, she still wanted them. How would she survive in close proximity to two stunning and undoubtedly sexual Magians whose magic was so compatible to hers? A perfect match to hers, despite their differing skills.

  Ric was obviously a morph. Like Jenner. Unusual.
Other than her sweet, if meddling housekeeper, what she knew of that sort of Magian was that it loved to play games with people’s heads. They were born mischief-makers. Harrison wanted to kick herself for not being more suspicious about the intelligent stray she’d called Prince.

  And Jacob. After his performance this morning, there could be no doubt that he was a siren. At least it answered her question about whether or not he was her attacker from the other night.

  She’d never met a male siren before. Females were rare enough. Someone who could affect the physical with the power of their voice. Not a compeller like Callie or Tucker. They didn’t persuade you. Sirens could hurt you. Could stun you. Could make your body climax not from a command, but from the sound of their voice alone.

  But he hadn’t used it on her and he could have at any time. In her apartment. When he’d come in the room. Instead he’d been so restrained she’d almost been disappointed. Now that she knew what he was capable of, she supposed she should be relieved.

  Sirens were compellers squared. When one was born, they were kept close track of by the law, by their families. So much power in one person was a rarity. Look at her. According to everyone, her type of magic was rarest of all. She could master each skill if she chose. A conduit. So they said.

  It made her a freak in the land of the strange. It made her an oddball. And she had yet to discover her trigger. That something that would allow her to truly channel the power inside her.

  She was good at potion making, and she knew her magic was strong, but she still didn’t have the control to tap into the powers of others. To pick and choose. Jenner said she was still young, that it would come. But that excuse was getting old.

  Perhaps her real fear was that all the hype was a mistake. That the Abbott heiress was a fraud. If it was true, Jacob and Ric had gone to a helluva lot of trouble for nothing.

  Thinking of them, even for an instant, made her skin tingle. Since Jacob had touched her, calling to the magic inside her, she’d been a bundle of raw nerves. Hot and restless. Waiting.