Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) Read online

  "My knee?"

  "That too, but I meant the talisman problem."

  I stood, considering how I could pull my tank top over my shoulder without smearing the salve. Glancing at Evan, I had to wonder if I were supposed to be all blasé about pulling it off in front of him, or act coy by turning my back. Sure, he'd seen me naked, but not for a long time; and I wasn't sure about stripping down to my bra. I bit my lip, wondering what to do.

  "I'll help," said Evan and I had to keep my jaw from dropping open. But instead of the thought that just ran through my head, he gently turned me around. His fingers grazed my hips as he caught the hem of the fabric, easing it up, brushing past my bra straps, then over my head.

  "I know you can magic my clothes off," I said, remembering a particularly fun day when he played with his magic.

  His lips were next to my ear as he whispered, "You could have asked."

  Before I could regain my breath and reply, he slipped the robe around my shoulder. "How do you feel?"

  Hot. Bothered. Confused. Excited. "Fine," I squeaked.

  "Good. Sit down. Let me check your knee."

  "I have my jeans on."

  "You want me to do the magic thing?"

  Another squeak caught in my throat at the thought of him magicking my jeans off. "I can manage," I gulped, sitting and wriggling out of my jeans. Trying not to wince at the stab of pain I pushed my knees together as Evan bent to look.

  "Your knee looks fine. I can put salve on, but I don't think it'll bruise even if I don't use any salve."

  "I think it'll be fine too," I said, looking down at it. There was the tiniest scrape above my kneecap and I immediately felt foolish, like I made a big fuss about nothing. It didn't even break the skin. A yawn climbed up my throat, building until I had to clamp a hand over my mouth. "Sorry," I gasped through the second yawn. "Long day. Lots happened."

  "Put your feet up," said Evan, placing a hand behind my knees, and lifting my legs onto the bed. "Let’s put the TV on and chill out. We can talk later."

  "No, I'm fine." I stifled another yawn. "You said something about my other problem."

  Evan made a noise of acknowledgment as he moved around the bed, grabbing the remote control from the desk before approaching from the other side. He toed off his shoes, dropping onto the bed, and plumped the pillows behind his head before he crossed his legs. I couldn't help smiling at the picture we made.

  "Long time since we've done this," I said.

  "Shame."

  I yawned again. "I could go to sleep."

  "Want me to magic you back to your room?"

  Another yawn had my eyes drooping. "Nope. I need to ask you about the demon talisman."

  "About that..."

  "Is this salve making me sleepy?" I mumbled as radiant heat spread from my shoulder through my torso. "I feel so warm. What about my problem?"

  "I think I can help you."

  "You can find the talisman?"

  "Yes."

  I yawned again, reaching for his hand. Sure, I wanted the talisman, but I really wanted to sleep. Warmth and comfort drifted over me. The feel of Evan's hand in mine was so familiar, and so welcome. I missed it. I missed him. He didn't seem angry anymore, and that was good. "Tomorrow. Let's save the world tomorrow," I whispered as my eyes finally closed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I yawned widely, wriggling and stretching as I awoke, before snuggling back under the covers, my eyes firmly shut against the slivers of light peeking through the curtains. I hadn't slept so dreamlessly since returning to the safety of The Amethyst, so I snuggled deeper under the covers, searching for that quasi-sleep state where all my troubles were forgotten.

  I wriggled again before rolling over and snuggled into him, searching for comfort, sliding my hand under his t-shirt to caress his back. His arms tightened around me, pulling me closer, and his lips sought mine. Sleepily, I returned his kisses, waking as the hunger for his touch became irresistible. His hands, pressed against my back, pulled me in and he murmured something into my lips, something about desire.

  My eyes shot open and I gasped. "Evan!"

  "My love?" he murmured, his tongue searching for mine.

  Fully conscious now, this was no dream! I wasn't dreaming about snuggling against Evan; I was snuggled against Evan! I wasn't remembering his touch, or how he felt against my palms. No! My hands were under his shirt and his were sliding from my back, over my chest, and causing me to arch against him with a moan.

  How did we get here? Memories flooded back. The salve rubbed into my shoulder. The overbearing sleepiness. Evan throwing a blanket over me...

  I wriggled my legs. My jeans were gone, but I still wore my undergarments, and my socks! I realised with a cringe. How sexy. And it wasn't like I needed a bra! Not with Evan's large hands stroking under the cups and my body loving every pleasurable second of it.

  Clearly, he was naked. His one leg hooked around mine and his hand dipped down, trailing a burning path over my stomach, as his hardness pressed against my hip.

  "Evan?"

  "Mmm-hmmm," he said, his kisses drifting from my mouth to my neck. My bra disappeared and his lips descended lower. I knew he could do that, said the far recesses of my mind as his torso pressed against me, filling me with searing heat infinitely hotter than just body temperature. He was a daemon heady with lust.

  "Evan, what are we doing?"

  "Ask me again in a few seconds."

  "No... I mean... What are we doing?"

  "Whatever we want," he mumbled, his lips returning to mine, ending anymore questions. Truthfully, I didn't have more questions. I really missed this feeling inside me. No, not just this feeling. I missed him. I loved him for so long and despite how painfully we parted, I never stopped missing him. Now, he was here in my arms and all I could think about was how he felt against me. I cherished the rippling power of his muscles as my hands moved across his back, a thin fabric the only thing that separated us as I pulled him against me. He shifted his weight, positioning me beneath him. My legs curled around his hips and his kisses became more urgent. His hand drifted down, sliding over my panties before they disintegrated under his touch. Our bare skin was fully charged with electricity, increasing every second as we entwined.

  With the last sensible thought in my head, I telekinetically removed my socks, not caring where they landed.

  "I love you," he whispered, sliding inside me. Heat scorched every vein, and my magic threatened to burst over us. "Always have, always will," he said, crushing his lips against mine.

  ~

  "Stella?"

  "Hmmm, yes?" I looked up, blinking, and wondering what I missed. Clare stood in front of me, waiting expectantly, her clipboard in one hand. It struck me how bizarrely normal she looked, given where we were, and right when I was about to walk into a meeting room of shapeshifters. Then I looked down at my black slacks and simple cream sweater. Didn't I look ridiculously normal too? Even after making love to my daemon former lover?

  "Étoile says you can go in."

  "Oh, yes, um, thank you," I said, reaching for my phone to push it into my pocket. The text message I was trying to construct had to wait for now. What exactly should I say to Evan anyway? Thanks for sending a magic fireball to kill me last night. You seriously made up for it this morning?

  "Are you okay? You look a little flushed."

  "I'm fine, thanks. See you," I finished lamely, stepping past her to reach for the handle.

  "Stella," Étoile said, moving across the room to take my hand as I entered. "Thank you for coming."

  "No problem."

  "You remember our guests?" she asked, indicating the shapeshifters who were seated on the couches. I nodded, smiling at each of them, and trying to appear friendly. I met Arnie and the larger man before — he was a werebear, I remembered, but I couldn't recall his name — however the young woman was new. Although the other man looked familiar, I forgot his name too. It didn't seem polite to say so though. "Miles and Ivy are n
ew members of the shapeshifter council. We have been discussing our talisman mission," Étoile explained, revealing the purpose of my summons. I guessed as much when she sent Clare to find me. It definitely didn't seem like the time for a tête-à-tête about our love lives. However, I thought she wanted to see the vampire pendant rather than having me join her meeting with the shifters. I had to wonder why she decided to tell the shapeshifters about our secret mission when she said, "Stella is in charge of retrieving the talismans."

  "You have the others?" inquired Arnie.

  I gave him a non-committal shake of my head that was neither a no, nor a yes. "Not all of them."

  "And this will potentially solve our Brotherhood problem?" he asked, turning to Étoile.

  "It won't add to the problem," countered Étoile.

  "That's not what I asked.

  "If we have all the talismans, at least, we have a shot at seeing if the prophecy is real. Without them all, however, there's no hope of ever finding out. We'll have to rely on our fighting skills and defence training, and we still don't know what we're up against."

  "Few of us are fighters. This is the twenty-first century! Our manpower isn't sufficient."

  "That's the whole purpose of the High Council. We all need to work together. We work better together than we do alone."

  "She's right," said Miles. "We agreed to work together and The Brotherhood are a threat to us all. They need to be eradicated before they become so powerful they can destroy all of our races and species."

  "Is that very likely?" asked Arnie, looking to Étoile for the type of reassurance I doubted she could give.

  "It could be. We know Georgia Thomas is working with Morgan. After the message they sent to us, we can be sure they are using magic; so we should have no doubt about them using magic as a weapon against us. We also know they are capturing and experimenting on our kind. They could be tapping into powers we don't even know exist."

  "Why use our powers when they hate us?" asked Ivy.

  "Because they're hypocrites," Étoile replied, her voice dry with disgust.

  Something passed between the shifter leaders, some fast conversation that was almost imperceptible to me, but they didn't look unhappy. "Miles," said Arnie without taking his eyes from the werebear. "Give this young lady the talisman."

  "You have it?" I exclaimed, surprised. I expected some false hope, or a folkloric riddle that would suggest where their talisman was. Learning that they had it was both unexpected and pleasing, not to mention, making my task a lot easier. "Here?"

  "Yes," he said, without further explanation. Last night, I wanted to know where the vampire pendant came from, but I sensed that while the owners of the talismans may have been willing to share them with me for a price, they preferred not to discuss their provenance. With the vampire pendant now resting in my room's wall safe, along with my family horologican and the werewolf talisman, I wondered if I could even be sure I had the right items.

  A scared, suspicious part of me wondered if someone were setting me up to collect all the necessary items, only to snatch them out from under me when I completed the set. How did I know if the talismans were the right ones? That thought flew out of my mind when the shifter named Miles dropped a pendant into my hand. The jagged edges looked familiar, almost like they would have fit into the vampires’. It had the same smooth, black enamel, and a little, glittering star embedded in it. Like the vampire pendant, this one also had a smooth, curved side, etched in gold.

  What was strangest of all was the absolute quiet that ensued when he handed it to me.

  "We've had this many years," said Arnie, watching and assessing me with eyes that followed my every move. "Never in that time has a witch managed to take hold of it."

  "I don't understand." I looked at him as if I could find the answers in his face, but all I saw was surprise, the same expression I saw on the faces of his comrades.

  "We occasionally have a witch or two in our company, and numerous witches have seen this talisman over the decades, since it has been in our possession, but none, not one, can touch it."

  "What happens when they do?" asked Étoile.

  "It seems to burn their skin."

  "It must be an anomaly," I said, turning it over. My skin appeared absolutely fine, without even a hint of irritation. "We're in The Amethyst. We're surrounded by witch magic. I could be protected."

  "Maybe. We've just never seen it before. Maybe it's you. Maybe you're special. Anyway, we're trusting you to take care of it," he said.

  "I'll return it as soon as I can," I told them as I turned it over again. I was looking for any kind of markings, perhaps something to indicate its maker. There were none. Yet I could still feel the magic imbued in it. I wondered if the shapeshifters could too, or if it were just a pretty trinket to them. Since they weren't sharing too much information, I wondered if I should divulge more in order to gain their trust. "There's magic in this," I began.

  "We can feel it," admitted Arnie. "But I don't think there's too much."

  "It's in layers, I believe," I said, folding my hand around it, and focusing not just on the cool metal, but what lay hidden. The magic was soft and quiet, but I sensed something stronger lying beneath it. Something dormant was waiting to come out. I didn't feel the same sensation with the vampire talisman, but I didn't hold that one very long before slipping it into my pocket. It would be useful to compare them, I thought.

  Étoile held out her hand and I dropped the pendant into it, waiting while she assessed it before handing it quickly back to me. "I agree with Stella's assessment. It's pretty, too."

  "Étoile can hold it too," I pointed out, relieved that I wasn't the anomaly. "It must be the building."

  "Maybe," said Miles, looking unconvinced despite Étoile's smile. "Weird stuff seems to happen here."

  Étoile raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

  "A pair of socks dropped onto my head in the corridor this morning when I was walking from my room. They just came out of nowhere." He laughed as he demonstrated his surprised expression.

  My eyes widened and I covered the blush rising to my face with my hands as I turned away, pretending to cough. Étoile gave me a funny look when I turned back, my composure restored. "Excuse me," I muttered, hoping my red face would be put down to the feigned coughing fit.

  "We had a jeweler look at it a couple of decades ago," Arnie said, ignoring me as Étoile passed me a tissue. "He said it was forged from a very high quality gold and the black stuff is onyx. The star is a diamond. He couldn't fathom how someone could cut a diamond like that."

  "Magic?" I suggested to a round of nods.

  "Have you ever seen anything like it before?" Ivy asked, speaking for the first time.

  I nodded, deciding it was pointless to lie. They trusted me. Didn't they deserve the same? Wasn't that the whole nature of our High Council? The way we would survive whatever The Brotherhood plotted against us? "Yes. Another pendant."

  "There's more than one?"

  "Not exactly the same, but I think they might have been made together, at the same time. I guess..." I paused to formulate my thoughts into something coherent. I needed to take another look at the little shapes cut into the werewolves’ talisman. Only then could I be sure if I were correct. "—If they were made at the same time, maybe they were intended to work together somehow."

  "I don't see how this little pendant can defeat The Brotherhood."

  "It won't by itself. I think everything only works if all the pieces are together, but I don't know how."

  "You'll let us know?" Arnie asked. Some unseen communication had the pack of four moving closer to each other, concluding the meeting without a word. I snuck a glance at Étoile; but she didn't seem offended.

  "Yes," I agreed after she gave me a small nod.

  We were silent as the shapeshifters filed out of the room. When the last one was gone, Étoile closed the door, turning back to me.

  "That was easy," I said. "They just turned it over?"

&
nbsp; "Pretty much as soon as I asked for it."

  "They had it here?"

  "No. I think they sent Miles to retrieve it. I don't know where it was kept, and I haven't asked."

  I frowned. We might have been working together, but the vampires demanded a favour in return. "What did they want in exchange?" I asked.

  Étoile lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Nothing. They were glad to help."

  "The vampire wasn't quite as altruistic."

  "So I've heard, and I'm not surprised. I should have warned you. I would have if you'd only told me."

  "I should have anticipated his response. Wait, Matthias told you about the meeting?"

  "Of course. He said he failed to protect you sufficiently. Did he?"

  "Yes, but the vampire asked for a favour and I agreed. That's on me."

  Étoile arched an eyebrow. "Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite you."

  "Vampire pun?"

  "Unfortunately. You told the shifters you'd seen another pendant like theirs. Matthias said the vampire gave you a pendant."

  "It's very similar to the shifters.’ The same onyx and the little, star diamond. It had magic in it too. I won't know though until I see if I can fit them together, but I'm almost certain they will."

  "Where are you with the other talismans?"

  "I have the werewolf talisman, my horologican, and now, the two pendants. I just need one more, but..." I stopped, realising the problem. Why didn't it occur to me before? "I need to recheck everything," I groaned, "I think, maybe we got something wrong. When I saw this pendant, I remembered that the totem had strange little carvings on each side, but now I don't think they're carvings at all. I think they're places for these pendants to slide into; except I only have one more pendant to find, and there're two more slots."

  "There's another problem," said Étoile.

  I frowned, wondering what I missed. "What?" Étoile held out her hand. In her palm was a small burn mark shaped like a pendant. "It did that to you? Why didn't you say anything?"

  "It didn't seem prudent to give more credence to their theory that you were special."