Nature of the Beasts (Spark of Magic), page 14
Dastan wrapped his arms around her waist. As slowly as his hunger would allow, he slid his hands up her stomach to the underside of her breasts. Her head fell back against his shoulder, and Dastan placed a kiss along the column of her throat. Using his palms, he pushed her breasts upward and pinched her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers.
Sarah moaned and arched her back. Her breasts filled his hands. Her heart beat against his chest. He loved how she responded to him, how she moaned at his touch. He shifted his hips and pressed his cock into the warm space between the cheeks of her ass. She rotated her hips slightly, rubbing herself against him. It felt so good. Tingles of pleasure raced from his balls to his groin.
He slid his hands lower over her stomach till he reached the apex of her thighs. He could feel her heat and smell her arousal as he very slowly moved his hands to cup her mound. With the tips of his fingers, he spread her labia. Juices coated her sex, and he used the ball of his middle finger to spread those juices around her clit.
Sarah sighed at his touch, her body wiggling wildly against his. She made him crazy. She made him want her so badly he could hardly breathe.
“Dastan” she whispered as she lifted her head from his shoulder. Suddenly her body stiffened, and she raised her hands to the windowpane in alarm. “Dastan!”
His sexual fog didn’t last long as his gaze focused on the figure standing on the rise that overlooked the house.
“What the hell is he doing?” Sarah whispered as she remained frozen.
Dastan studied the figure closely before finally realizing it wasn’t Razeen. It was the sheriff.
“Son of a bitch,” Dastan growled as he stepped away from Sarah and quickly covered both of them with clothes. “Step away from the window, Sarah.”
Sarah moved aside, but then peeked out the window one more time. “That’s the sheriff, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he said and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“I’m going to go see if I can find out what the hell he’s doing. You stay here.”
SARAH WATCHED HIM go with a frown. Her sexual euphoria was forgotten and in its place was a feeling of dread. Seeing that figure on the rise had startled the hell out of her. She backed away from the window and wrapped her arms around her chest. It did nothing to ward off the chill of unease that enveloped her like a fog.
From a few feet’s distance, she watched the figure out the window. Something didn’t seem right. The sheriff’s image appeared to waver as though it was engulfed in heat. It faded, then disappeared. Sarah gasped. She knew that humans under attack by a succubus could project their image to someone they thought might be able to help them, whether consciously or unconsciously.
During the attack, his mind must’ve shifted to Dastan, therefore projecting his image to the last place he’d seen him.
But who would be attacking him?
Razeen.
Sarah rushed to the window and opened it. She leaned out, hoping to see Dastan and get his attention. She spotted him on the rise, staring at the spot where they’d seen the sheriff. He must’ve used magic to get there so fast. He was too far for her to yell, so she concentrated and used magic to put herself just behind Dastan.
* * * *
Mike struggled against the man holding him down. He’d been out all night, exploring the ranch, looking for any more signs of the wolves or anything else that might answer the questions running through his mind.
He’d come across a man lying on the ground next to the river. He’d jumped from his horse to check on him, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, fighting for what felt like his soul.
As he stared up at his attacker, Mike noticed the eyes. Eyes just like that damn wolf that had tried to attack him. Or was it the one who’d protected him? Hell, he didn’t know. Even to his own mind, none of it made sense.
The man lowered his mouth as though to kiss him, and Mike struggled even harder to shove the man off. He couldn’t. It was as though he weighed a ton.
“Get off me,” Mike snarled.
The man’s lips parted, and Mike felt a tugging deep in his chest. What was going on? What was happening? His mind for some reason shifted to Dastan, and he’d swear for a split second he could see the ranch house below him from the rise. His heart raced wildly as he fought the tug that snaked its way through his veins. Fatigue weakened him, and his arms shook as he tried to hold the man back.
Mike turned his head, but his attacker cupped his face and turned him back. Looking into the man’s eyes, Mike swore he saw evil. Death stared down at him, and Mike’s heart sank. Was this it? Was this how he would die?
He refused to let this happen. Using all the strength he had left, he shoved. It did nothing. Letting go of the man’s arm, he reached for the gun that had fallen just a few feet away. His attacker was preoccupied and didn’t notice his movement. He was able to get the barrel of the gun pointed at the man’s midsection.
Gray eyes widened as realization dawned. “I said get off me.”
He pulled the trigger, cringing as the gun kicked hard due to his awkward and weak hold. Blood splattered over his face and torso as his attacker’s body flew backward, a gaping hole in his stomach. The man groaned and rolled to his side.
Mike struggled to catch his breath as he kept his gaze locked on the man lying just a few feet away. He felt shattered, as though a piece of him was gone, never to return.
* * * *
Sarah projected herself to the hillside just behind Dustan. He must’ve heard her for he spun around quickly, an angry look in his gray eyes. Sarah jumped slightly and took a step back.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dastan asked. “I told you to stay at the house!”
Sarah bristled and lifted her chin. “I think I know what’s going on.”
Some of Dastan’s anger faded as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Go on.”
“Have you ever heard of a succubus?”
Dastan’s brow creased. “Yeah. But they’re rare. Something like only five or so per one hundred years.”
Sarah nodded and moved closer to Dastan. “I was watching the sheriff, and his image wavered like something behind a wall of heat.”
“What does one have to do with the other?”
“What we saw wasn’t real, and we know he’s not a witch.”
Dastan drew in a deep breath and lowered his hands to his waist. “Where are you going with this?”
“We know Razeen likes to kill. If you kill a succubus, you take their power. I’ve also heard of humans being able to project their image to someone who they think might be able to help them, even unconsciously. It has something to do with the transfer of their life force to the succubus. It’s a residual image.”
“Okay,” Dastan said, clearly not convinced.
Sarah sighed and glanced toward the sky. “I think at some point Razeen killed a succubus, which means he would have that ability to steal a life force, and he’s right now attacking the sheriff. If Razeen was hurt badly enough, he would need a life force in order to heal quickly. If the sheriff is still out there, he may have run across Razeen, and Razeen attacked him.”
Dastan was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “That’s a stretch, Sarah.”
“Not if you think about it. Why else would we have seen him like that? What other reason would cause his image show up here?”
“What the hell made you think of that?”
“When Keegan’s teachers taught her about the succubus race, I studied with her. At the time, I found them fascinating. I still do. This kind of thing can and has happened. When I saw him disappear, it was the only thing that made sense.”
“If you’re right, how do I find him?” Dastan asked.
Sarah shook her head as disappointment tightened her chest. “I don’t know.”
Dastan began to pace. “Okay, let’s think about this. We have nothing of the sheriff’s, so we can’t tap into him magically and see where he is.”
“Are we sure we don’t?” Sarah asked. “I haven’t washed the cup he used yesterday when he drank the coffee. Would that work?”
She and Dastan stared at each other as her excitement mounted, then faded as quickly as it had begun.
“That wouldn’t work,” she murmured sadly. “What are the odds that you think he can fight him off?”
“The sheriff?” Dastan asked, then sighed. “Mike’s a tough guy from what I’ve seen, but mortals don’t usually stand a chance against magic. If Razeen’s a succubus like you think, that’s a problem. As long as there’s human life he can get his hands on, he can regenerate.”
A gunshot sounded in the distance, and they both looked in surprise to the horizon.
“Was that a gunshot?” Sarah asked.
“There’s how we find him,” Dastan said. He turned back to Sarah. “Go get Dmitry and tell him what’s going on. He’ll stay with you while I go look for where that shot came from.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mike sat up slowly, keeping his gaze on the man a few feet away. The injured man rolled to his back and yelled loudly toward the morning sky as though in anger. He had to also be in pain. A shot in the gut at that close of a range… Hell, he should be dead by now.
Mike searched blindly for his walkie he usually kept hooked to his belt. When he didn’t find it, he growled under his breath and began to search the ground. He finally spotted it by a bush. With one more glance toward the wounded man, he crawled to grab it. He didn’t have any choice. He didn’t seem to have the strength to stand.
“This is Mike. Anybody there?” he called into the walkie.
“Yeah, here,” Lucy said in her usual cheery voice. “What’s up?”
“I need a medical evacuation out on the old Keller ranch. Tell the doc we’ll need the helicopter. I’ll light a smoke flare so that he can find me.”
“One of the ranchers hurt?” she asked.
“Nah, just send him out. I’ll explain it later.” Mike released the talk button. “If I can.”
He stared at the man lying on the ground, indecision tugging at his gut. His job dictated he should try to save him. His wounded pride dictated he let him lie there. When the man rolled to his stomach and began to climb to all fours, Mike took a deep breath and began to slowly climb to his feet as well.
“Hold up,” Mike commanded weakly. “I’ve got an ambulance on the way. If you don’t stop moving around, you’re going to make the bleeding worse.”
He tried to push the man down, but the other man growled low in his throat like an animal. Mike took a cautious step back. He still felt weak, and the last thing he wanted to do was get into another fight with this guy. Was he high on something? He had to be. He should be in too much pain to be moving around like he was.
“I said—” Mike began.
The man on the ground moved his right hand forward. As he did, his body began to change. Mike took another step back as the man screamed in pain as his body slowly morphed into that of a wolf. Once fully turned, he took off into the mountains.
Mike took another step back and tripped over a fallen log. He landed hard on his backside. Pain laced up his spine, and he groaned in shock and frustration. What the hell had he just seen? Was he hallucinating? What the hell was going on?
He grabbed the walkie from his belt. “Lucy, forget what I asked you to do.”
“Why?” she asked. “What’s going on, Mike?”
“The hell if I know,” he grumbled, then released the Talk button.
“Mike,” Lucy called.
With a tired sigh, Mike pressed the button again and brought the mic to his lips. “Not now, Lucy. I’ve got to go catch a fucking wolf.”
“What?”
Mike put the walkie back in its holder and then climbed to his feet. His horse was still close by. The wolf or man or whatever the hell that thing was had been injured, so he should be able to catch up to it quickly. The real question was should he?
He wobbled slightly as he made his way to his horse. The ground below him began to spin in a circle. Bile rose to the back of his throat, and Mike groaned just before bending over and vomiting on the dry ground.
With his hands on his knees, he stared at his feet and wished he could just lie down for a while. Just a little while. That was all he needed.
His horse pushed his nose against his shoulder, and Mike slowly stood, using Sundance’s reins to keep himself steady. If he didn’t, he would fall over, and he doubted he’d be able to get back up again.
“Hey, Sundance,” he cooed in a rough voice as he gently patted the horse’s nose. “We need to get to Dastan’s ranch. I think I need help.”
On weak legs, he made his way to Sundance’s side and nudged his foot into the stirrup. It took him two tries to get on the horse’s back, but he finally made it. Weak and still half sick to his stomach, he nudged the horse in the general direction of Dastan’s ranch.
* * * *
Sarah rushed out to the barn and waved at Dmitry on the roof. He stood and stared down at her.
“Is something wrong?” Dmitry asked in concern.
“Dastan needs your help.”
She stood nervously watching as Dmitry passed his hammer to the ranch man next to him and climbed down the ladder. Dmitry and the hands were almost done with the barn, and it was beginning to look almost as good as new.
Dmitry put his palm at the small of her back and walked with her back to the house. “What’s going on?” he asked in a low voice so as not to arouse concern with the other men.
“We think the sheriff’s in trouble.” When Dmitry gave her a questioning look, she frowned and shook her head. “It’s a long story. But it might be a good idea to cancel the contractors today. I have a feeling things are going to get pretty crazy around here later.”
“That’s not good.”
“Is there somewhere you can send the hands to get them away from here? The last thing we need is for them to see anything.”
Dmitry sighed as he opened the front door and allowed her to precede him inside. “I have a feeling that’s something we may not be able to avoid.”
Sarah turned to face him. “That can’t happen.”
Dmitry gently gripped her upper arms. “If worse comes to worst, we cast a spell to erase their memories.”
“That’s unreliable.”
Dmitry sighed and dropped his hands. “What choice do we have?”
“Would it be so bad if they knew?”
“It’s never good when a mortal knows, Sarah. You know that.” He softly touched his finger to her chin. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll call the contractor and cancel everything for now. You go make us some coffee.”
She nodded and turned to make her way to the kitchen. She frowned toward the messy living room that no one had gotten to yet and waved her hand. Instantly the room returned to normal, at least as normal as possible. Dmitry’s sideways grin made her shrug. “I’m tired of looking at the mess.”
Dmitry snorted. “Just don’t get too crazy. We don’t want to raise suspicion with the hands.”
Sarah rolled her eyes as she headed for the kitchen and the fancy coffeemaker. Part of her wanted to rebel—to just wave her hand and have two cups of coffee ready to go. But she knew in this world, she needed to be more careful.
As quickly as possible, she made a pot of coffee and hit the Brew button. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked to see that Dmitry was still on the phone, then waved her hand, magically conjuring up a fresh cup of coffee while she waited on the pot to finish.
Had Dastan found the sheriff yet? What about Razeen? Thinking that the sheriff was dead didn’t feel right, but at the same time she could definitely tell that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
She lifted her cup and sipped. The heat of the liquid singed her tongue, and she winced before setting the cup back down on the counter, giving it a few needed seconds to cool.
“All right,” Dmitry said as he strolled into the kitchen. “Everything is taken care of; now start talking. What happened?”
Sarah studied Dmitry, wondering how he could outwardly appear so calm. Deep down she knew he was just as tense as she was, though he didn’t show it. She wished she had such a well-established poker face.
“I saw the sheriff on the hill overlooking the house. When Dastan went to investigate, I realized that Mike’s image wasn’t real. It was residual.”
Dmitry frowned. “You saw his ghost?”
“I hope not, but no. What I think I saw was what sometimes happens when a human is attacked by a succubus.”
Dmitry nodded once and moved to the island. “You’re talking about a projected image as the soul leaves the body.”
“Yes. You know about succubi?”
“Some. So we’re dealing with a succubus and Razeen?” Dmitry asked as he pulled one of the stools out and sat down.
“No. I think they’re one and the same. If Razeen killed a succubus at some point, he would have its ability to take souls in order to regenerate quickly. And if he was injured bad enough during the jump off the cliff, then he would need a soul.”
“How the hell did you make the jump to that conclusion?”
“I studied succubi with Keegan. When I saw Mike’s image waver, it reminded me of what we’d learned.”
The coffeepot beeped, indicating the brewing process was finished. Sarah grabbed a cup and filled it with the black liquid before handing it over to Dmitry.
“Thank you,” he said as he took a small sip. “Where did Dastan know to look for him?”
“We heard a gunshot, due east,” Sarah replied as she took her cup and leaned against the counter.
Dmitry frowned. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“It was very low.”
With a nod, Dmitry took another sip. “There’re several guys hammering up on the roof. I’m sure that covered it up. It’s a good thing the roof on the house wasn’t as damaged.”
