Of Time & Spells Read online

  A horrid hiss pushed past Chi’s parted lips, and he released a blow that packed such a punch it knocked Tristan to his knees, giving him direct access to me.

  I lifted my fists to rest below my chin, exactly like Jasper had taught me, as I prepared to fight. Tension contracted my muscles, and I zeroed in on where I wanted my fist to connect—his jaw. In my mind, I visualized connecting perfectly and him dropping to the ground. It was wishful thinking, but it was enough to motivate me to extend my arm in his direction once he was on me.

  My fist slammed into his jaw, but he didn’t drop the way I thought he would. The jolt didn’t even faze him. What should I do now? Where should I hit him next? How can I add more power behind my punch? Before I could do anything, Liam touched something to Chi’s skin and he froze in place.

  Words, coated in his thick accent and wrapped in power, flowed past Liam’s lips. It was the first time I’d ever witnessed a leprechaun work magic. My brain struggled to comprehend what he was saying, but I couldn’t follow along. I was too focused on Chi and his immobile state.

  While I wasn’t sure what I expected to see while Liam worked his magic—possibly rainbows and gleaming pots of gold—having someone become frozen at the touch of a coin wasn’t it. I’d never thought of Liam’s coins as weapons. However, when used with the right intention, it made sense that they could be. Liam had once told me I should respect the power of his coins. Maybe he’d been right.

  Chi slumped to the ground once Liam lifted the coin from his skin. Liam whispered a few more words before he released the coin. It hovered in midair, spinning by a force unseen. Blackness appeared across its surface, chasing away the bronze color.

  “What just happened?” Tristan asked, his voice caught somewhere between a grunt and the sharp inhale of a breath.

  Liam brushed his hands together as though he were wiping dirt off them. “My coin absorbed the dark magic.”

  I watched as the coin continued to dance and spin in the air. The instant it turned solid black it began to smolder as though it was burning from the heat of the magic trapped inside. It floated to the ground as it slowly turned to charred ashes. “Problem solved.” Liam made his way into the hall. “And now that we’re all awake, would anyone like coffee?”

  I stared after him, waiting for my heart to find its normal rhythm. I’d nearly died. Again. And this time, Liam had been the one to save me. Who would have thought?

  “Is everyone okay?” Jasper reached for me. “Piper?”

  “I’m fine.” I nodded. Once he released me, I moved to Tristan’s side. He was rubbing his cheek. “Are you okay?”

  He worked his jaw back and forth. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You sure?” He’d taken one heck of a punch. The side of his jaw was red and angry. “Do you want me to get you some ice? There might be some in the freezer.” Guilt swarmed my stomach at the sight of him. It seemed like he was always getting hurt because of me.

  “Nah, I’ll be fine. The question is: Is he going to be okay?” He nodded toward Chi.

  I glanced at him. Now that Chi wasn’t possessed he didn’t appear to be a threat, and I worried Liam’s magic might be something permanent.

  “He will be fine.” Meili moved to his side, ready to examine him. “It is us I am worried about.”

  “Me too,” my brother quickly agreed. “They’ll be back. They’ll also be waiting for us to retaliate.”

  “We should retaliate. Now.” Meili’s hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stood. “Tristan’s link to the mirror is gone. Piper’s life has been threatened more than once. It is time we go after the Vodun and wipe them out. No more waiting. No more planning. It is time we act.”

  I swallowed hard. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Meili was right. It was time we acted. We’d planned all we could. We’d waited all we could. The time to go head-to-head with the Vodun was now. Adrenaline heated my blood. I was sick of death knocking on my door with the face of the Vodun and their many followers.

  It was time we finished this.

  “Gather everything you’ve brought to go against them with.” Jasper’s voice boomed with authority. He was as ready to take them down as Meili and me. “We leave as soon as possible.”

  “What about their army, Jasper?” Anna folded her arms across her chest as she stared at my brother with wide eyes. “Where were they? Why did the Vodun come themselves this time?”

  I blinked, suddenly wondering the same.

  “Who knows?” Jasper shrugged.

  “It has to mean something. We should think about this before we rush in,” she insisted. “Before the Vodun sent women from their army or their creepy birds. Not once have they made an attempt to come after us directly.”

  “Maybe they were tired of failing.” Jasper scratched at the back of his neck. “Maybe they’ve become believers of the old adage: If you want something done right, then you have to do it yourself. I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I know is that there’s no better time than now. We can’t put this off any longer.”

  “Maybe,” Anna muttered, but she didn’t seem convinced.

  “What do you think it means?” I asked her. Anna always thought outside the box. In situations like this, it might be of great value to have her looking at all angles.

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it means anything good.” She glanced out the bedroom window. It was still dark out, probably hours away from dawn. The moon illuminated the square for a backyard that came with the place. “I have a feeling we need to be extra careful once we step outside this house though.”

  A shiver ran along my spine at her words because I had a feeling she was right.

  I scanned the area outside the window, searching for creepy birds or strange women with raven tattoos that might be waiting to ambush us the second we stepped past the protective walls of the house. Movement captured my attention along the edge of the yard, but it was too dark to make out what it was.

  “All right, everyone, gather your things, get dressed, and eat if you can.” Jasper clapped his hands. “We all need to keep our strength up. I have a feeling we’re going to need it today.”

  Never had I agreed more with something my brother said.

  Chapter 3

  Tristan and I hung back for a minute, letting the others part ways to gather themselves before the big showdown. Chi would need more time than most. He was out of it as Meili and my brother helped him from the room. I glanced around Tristan’s room, taking in how creepy the space felt now that the Vodun had brought in the Snake of Possession. Traces of foreign magic and wicked darkness still lingered in the air. I could taste it on the tip of my tongue.

  “Are you okay?” Tristan’s hand came up to smooth along my cheek. My eyes lifted to meet his. The calculating sense I’d noticed so many times before was reflected there. “You look exhausted.”

  “Is that a nice way of saying I look like crap?”

  “No.” His hand fell to rest on my hip. “You don’t look like crap, just tired.”

  I inhaled a deep breath. “Well, that’s because I am, but there isn’t time for sleep. I’ll get caught up once all this is over.” If I live, I added to myself.

  The possibility I might not walk away from this faceoff with the Vodun was real. For all of us, not just me.

  Any one of us could die trying to get the dragons their magic back. Was it even worth it? An image of my parents floated through my mind, and I realized it was worth it. Helping the dragons wasn’t my reason for doing this anymore; getting revenge on the evil witches who had murdered my parents was.

  “Whoa, you look ready to hurt someone. What gave you the second wind?”

  “The thought of revenge.”

  “A great motivator.” Tristan pulled me into a hug. His chin rested on the crown of my head. “Just don’t let it eat you alive, okay?”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “It always is.”

  I lifted my chin so that my lips could gra
ze the skin of his neck. The scent of his cologne hit my nose, and I closed my eyes. I continued trailing kisses across his skin, not wanting to stop tasting him. This might be the last moment I had to be tucked safely in his arms. I allowed myself to become lost in the moment. The feel of his warmth. The scent of his skin. The taste of him on my tongue. What if I never got to experience any of this again?

  Fear rolled through me as the reality of the situation grabbed hold. This could be our final sweet moment together.

  Before my mind could spiral too far, Tristan lifted my face upward and crushed his lips against mine. Tingles surged through my lower belly as I deepened the kiss. I fisted the back of his T-shirt, holding on to him and the moment for dear life. His tongue teased along my bottom lip, begging for entrance inside my mouth. I parted my lips, allowing him to explore the way he seemed to want. When his hands roamed along my lower back, moving beneath the fabric of my cotton tank top, all the air pushed free from my lungs. The heat from his palms burned my skin in the best of ways. A soft moan left me. It must have encouraged him, because his hands inched their way toward my stomach to toy with the waistband of my shorts. I inhaled a sharp breath, loving the way he was making me feel. My tongue darted out to mingle with his as I tugged at the edges of his shirt, wanting to feel more of him pressed against me.

  “Wait,” Tristan muttered as he pulled away. He rested his forehead against mine. “Piper, hold up. We can’t do this.” His breath blended with mine in the space between us.

  “What’s wrong?” The words came from me, I knew they did, but I didn’t recognize their tone. It was too breathy, too needy, to have come from me.

  “We can’t do this. Not right now.”

  Rejection stung me like angry little bees even though I knew he was right. Getting too caught up in one another when my brother was in the next room and there was so much pressing on our shoulders wasn’t the best idea.

  But, dear lord, it had felt so right.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to see where things might lead if we continued.” He cupped my face between his warm palms. “I just want it to mean something after. Later on. I don’t want you to think I wanted in your pants because things were so screwed up and the chance to get there might not happen when all was said and done. It would kill me if you regretted it later. I just…I don’t want you to regret anything with me, Piper. Ever.”

  Heat colored my cheeks. I remembered him saying something similar before. Tristan was a better guy than I gave him credit for. “You need to dye your hair another color.”

  “What?”

  “Your hair color. It’s blue.”

  Tristan pulled back so he could look me in the eye. A crooked grin sprang on his face. “Yeah, so? I happen to like the color blue. What’s that have to do with anything?”

  “Blue hair makes people think you’re a badass rebel.” I narrowed my eyes and flashed a mischievous smile. “You’re not as badass as I thought you were, Tristan Jarek. You have morals and values. You have a heart.”

  “Blue hair makes me seem as though I don’t have any of those things going for me?”

  “Yeah.” My grin grew. “You need to dye your hair brown. It screams normal instead of badass rebel, and it would fit you better.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to be normal.” He nibbled my bottom lip. “And maybe I’m more badass and rebellious than you give me credit for.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him in place. “Maybe.”

  A soft knock sounded at the door. “Hey, you two.” Anna’s voice filtered through the wood. “Jasper is gathering everyone in the living room. It’s time to go.”

  I rested my forehead against Tristan’s chest. “Okay, thanks. We’ll be there in a second.”

  “I’ll let him know.”

  I listened to the sound of her retreating footsteps, waiting until I was sure she was gone before I spoke again. “I guess our time is up.”

  “No. Our time isn’t up, Piper. It’s merely placed on pause.” His lips crushed against mine again before he pulled away. “I should probably change. You should too.”

  “Yeah.” I glanced down at my tank and shorts. There weren’t many places to hide daggers and cloaks in them. “I’ll meet you in the living room.”

  He gripped my hip and pulled me close, until I was flush against his body again. “See you there.” His lips swept across mine for one final kiss before he spun me toward the door. The move had my knees feeling weak and my heart thumping wildly in my chest. “You have to admit, that move was pretty badass.” He winked.

  I laughed. I didn’t mean to, but the look on his face—as though he was waiting for my approval—was comical. “No, not badass, but it was smooth. Where did you learn it?”

  “I can’t give away all of my secrets.”

  I rolled my eyes as I exited his room and headed toward mine.

  Chapter 4

  After I changed into something better equipped for fighting, I took a moment to focus on my breathing. While I wouldn’t say I was meditating, it was somewhere along those lines. I needed a second to catch my breath, to process everything that had already taken place and everything that would after this moment.

  A knock at the door startled me. If Jasper had sent Anna to tell me it was time to leave again, I was going to be pissed. “I’ll be out in a second.”

  “Are you dressed? Can I come in?” My brother’s voice filtered through the door.

  “Yeah, come in.”

  Jasper swung the door open and stepped inside. He looked horrible. The skin around his eyes was bunched up and dark circles rimmed them. He licked his lips, but refused to make eye contact with me. My stomach rolled as his unease washed over me. I didn’t care to see my brother so distraught.

  “What’s up?” I asked when I couldn’t stand his silence any more.

  “I wanted to take a second to tell you…” he trailed off and scratched his neck. “Well, things might get serious with the Vodun, Piper, and I wanted to let you know I love you.”

  My eyes dipped to the floor as my stomach formed one large knot. I knew what this conversation was, what he was trying to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. It hurt too much.

  “Don’t, okay? I love you too, but don’t stand there and act like this is goodbye. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to get through this. Together. Just like we always have with everything else in the past.” I wanted to believe my words, but I knew better.

  Jasper was right to say a goodbye. There were too many things stacked against us. Especially when it came to me.

  The Vodun wanted me dead, and the dragons wanted me bloodless.

  My hands shook. God, I didn’t stand a chance at seeing tomorrow. My death was what everyone wanted. It was inevitable.

  “I didn’t mean to make you think dark thoughts, Piper. I know we’ll make it through.” Jasper wrapped me in a bear hug. “But I had to tell you how much I love you. You of all people should be able to understand that, especially in this situation.”

  “I do.” I wrapped my arms around my brother’s waist and buried my face into his solid chest. Jasper had always been my rock, even when I didn’t want to admit it, but hearing his voice so shaky and his words so unsure scared me. “I love you, too.”

  “We will make it through this, especially you. You hear me?” His lips pressed against the crown of my head. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

  I tried not to flinch at his words, but they caused all sorts of emotions to stir inside me. “I know.” He squeezed me tighter, almost to the point of crushing me. “Jasper, you’re holding me too tight,” I managed to choke out.

  “Oh, sorry.” He released his grip and took a step back. A shit-eating grin sprang onto his face. “I have something else I want to tell you.”

  “What’s that?” I didn’t like the mischievous look stretching onto his face. Generally, it meant he’d done something I’d be pissed about.

  “I asked Anna to marry me
.”

  My jaw fell open. “You did what?”

  “I asked Anna to marry me.”

  “What did she say?” Excitement pumped through me.

  “Yes.”

  I lunged for him, wrapping my arms around his neck again. “Oh my God, Jasper! I’m so happy for you two!”

  “Thanks.” He smoothed a hand along my back. “It just felt right, you know?”

  “Of course it did. She nearly died.” I shoved him backward. “You asshole, why did it take her dying for you to realize how much she meant to you?”

  His cheeks reddened. “She asked the same thing.”

  “Good, because you deserve to be put on the spot with that one.”

  A chuckle burst past his lips. “Yeah, I know. I’m not sure why I waited. It’s just how things worked out. Sad, but true.” He nudged me with his elbow. “Don’t worry though. I’ve already vowed to make it up to her. Again. And again. And again.”

  “Ew, gross.” I covered my ears. It didn’t matter though, because my brother’s laugh still managed to filter through.

  “All right, all right.” He stepped to the door. “Let’s get this show on the road; you know those evil witches are waiting for us to retaliate.”

  “Evil witches, yeah.” I snorted. I could think of a better word to call them. “I know. I’ll meet you in the living room. I just need another second.”

  “Okay.” He squeezed my shoulder. “You’re going to be all right. I plan to make sure of it. Even if I have to kill the Vodun, Chi, and Meili to see it happen, I will get you out of there alive, Piper.”

  I noticed he’d left Tristan out of the equation, but I didn’t ask if it was because he trusted him now. Jasper exited my room, leaving me to my thoughts and breathing exercise again. I couldn’t focus, though. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as the bet Tristan and I had placed surfaced in my mind. He’d been right. Jasper and Anna were getting married. Even though I hadn’t asked for an exact date, I knew my brother well enough to know once this craziness with the Vodun was over, the wedding would happen.