Chapter 8
Pain tingled through every inch of Josephine’s body. The longer she went without the rituals, the worse the pain would become. She could go a week without tapping into another Other’s power before the tingling would start.
The sensation would be manageable for another week. Then things would get bad. She needed to find someone to dampen the need. Anyone, except someone from the reservation. Their elders already watched her every move outside the walls of her home.
And the girl disappeared completely. Josephine had felt the magic approaching from miles away. That, or she was dead, but Josephine didn’t believe that to be the case. No, it was far more likely she was hiding out on the Wanatoga reservation. Sooner or later she’d find a way for her puppets to find her and bring her back.
In the meantime, she’d gotten her hands on some information about a mage driving up from Mexico. An old friend in the Silver Council kept her informed, so she could prepare her men to bring Others back.
Her informant never mentioned the girl, nor did he know about her. And she was powerful, unlike anything she’d encountered.
She only had a few hours until the mage pulled into town. She needed Mason ready to capture him.
Mason entered the room and knelt in front of her. Pain still etched lines in his gorgeous face.
Josephine combed her fingers through his hair. “Does it hurt?”
He nodded, his teeth clenched.
“If I heal you, will you find the girl who got away? Wendy? Or whatever her name is.”
“Tell me where.”
“Wanatoga. I cannot go there, but you can.”
“Anything you wish,” Mason promised.
“Very soon. There’s another filthy witch coming our way. Take him first. I’ll need him in order to deal with her. She’s far more powerful than I imagined.”
“Anything for you, Josephine.”
“Good, now find the witch at the truck stop. He should be there soon.”
He stood, and Josephine pulled him to a stop and opened the buttons of his flannel. “I told you I’d heal this mess.”
Mason smiled, his eyes delving into hers. Mason was so easy to coax into doing what she wanted. She peeled the bandages away and placed her hands over the charred handprints on his chest.
A moan followed the pained hiss.
Hiding the smile that wanted free, Josephine pushed healing energy at him instead.
The tension in his body melted away as his skin smoothed over. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his collarbone before taking her hands away.
“Josie, I’m yours.”
“You are, and I’ll reward you once we remove another dirty witch from this world.” The target wasn’t a witch. He was a mage, but the humans of the town didn’t know the difference. In fact, most humans still believed magic didn’t exist, and monsters didn’t roam the night. She told the town what they needed to hear to believe in black magic and witches using power to harm others.
The men she brought in were eager to stop the witchcraft. She’d only allowed Mason to participate in the rituals, letting the others believe she simply killed them. Mason seemed to understand she took their magic and wanted to help her. But if Mason continued to screw up, she may let Butch join in the next time. Perhaps he needed a little motivation. In fact, that gave her an idea. Butch had taken to hanging out on her lawn, hoping to gain her favor.
“I’ll send Butch with you, to ensure I was able to heal you properly, especially since we can no longer use David. I took his memories.”
Mason nodded, disappointment clear on his face. “Sure.”
At least he didn’t argue. “Go, he should be there before long. You’ll find Butch outside.”
Mason dipped his head and left the room. Josephine moved to her dresser and took the blade from her drawer. With the ancient weapon, she could steal Others’ magic and essence. And being a strigoi, she needed their essence to continue living. Technically, she was undead, neither alive, nor dead, and needed the essence of magic to survive.
* * * *
Dinner had been an excellent home-cooked meal. Loretta and Chatan made her feel at home. Keeping distance from Chatan became increasingly difficult with every new detail. Every time she fortified her walls, he smiled and they cracked.
At the door, she turned to Chatan. “You sure about that walk?”
He nodded, but then his phone buzzed. “Let me get this. I’ll knock when I’m done.” She never once saw him touch the phone. She hadn’t even thought about him having one until that moment.
Dipping her head, she slipped inside.
“Wait, Jace, I’ll knock in a minute. Please, don’t be mad.”
Smiling, she patted his arm. “I’m not. Take it. I’ve kept you busy all day.” Jacinda closed the door, hating the sadness in those dark eyes. Not her fault, though. And she wouldn’t shut him out for answering his phone when he spent the entire day with her.
Chatan had a life in Wanatoga. Jacinda had a goal, and then she planned to move on once she found whatever her father wanted her to find.
The more time she spent with Chatan, the harder it would be to leave. She had two options. Succeed where her family had failed and end the threat to her family, or Thanatos would destroy the last of her bloodline.
Chatan had knowledge she didn’t have. Maybe he really could help her.
She sank onto the couch and closed her eyes. Her necklace hummed and she grabbed onto the carved redwood hawk on a leather thong.
Her mother’s way of letting her know to contact her. Her heart raced as Chatan knocked on the door.
Mom would have to wait. Jacinda wasn’t sure what to tell her. Shoving the necklace beneath her shirt, she hurried to the door and opened it.
Chatan met her gaze, but he didn’t smile. “That was George, my boss. He needs help with something at work. Can I come over in the morning? I’ll bring you back to my place for breakfast.”
“Of course. But—” The words got lost on her tongue. She stepped forward and rose up on her toes as her hand landed on his chest.
Chatan gently caught her cheek as he bent to give her what she wanted. His kiss was a soft caress that stole her breath. He sucked her bottom lip between his and a shiver slid down her spine with her gasp. His mouth covered hers again.
Leaning back, he smiled. “I don’t want to leave.”
“But you should. I’ll be here in the morning,” she promised.
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to find the waterfall tonight. Please. There are stories of monsters in that part of the forest.”
A grown man afraid of legends? There must be truth to the stories. “I won’t. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I could call when I’m done.” He took a step back.
“Not tonight. I need to read my father’s journal again. See if I can figure anything else out.”
“Tell me you have a cell phone.”
She shook her head. “Never needed one.”
“How do you contact your mother?” he asked, moving back to her.
“We have our ways. Good night, Chatan.”
He groaned and moved back, taking a brief kiss that left her lips tingling. “Tomorrow morning then. Same time.” He hurried toward the trail, only glancing back to wave.
As soon as he made it past the tree line, she moved to get the journal.
* * * *
Last thing Chatan wanted to do was chase after Mason and the other goons. He wanted to stay with Jacinda and make sure she stayed out of trouble. Of course, if he hadn’t met her, he would want to be right there in the action.
Jacinda promised to focus on the journal, which meant she’d be out of harm’s way. And if George was right, some mage was coming to town, and they wanted to stop anyone else from being slaughtered.
He made it to his place in time for Loval to pull up. Chatan slid into the seat of the beat-up Honda Civic and shut the door.
“Heard you’re quite taken with last night’s near victim,” Loval prompted.
“Don’t start. She’s a hell of a lot more than a piece of ass.”
Loval chuckled. “Aren’t they all?”
Yeah, they were. He wasn’t into one-night stands, but he didn’t usually stick around once the woman started to cling. Most of them wanted him to change, to move, to be something he wasn’t.
Only, Jacinda mentioned leaving, and the thoughts of following her sprang up every time he was away from her for more than a few seconds.
He was a total goner.
“Hey, Chatan. Need you here, with me, not wherever your mind is wandering.”
He blew out a breath. “Are you and Taryn coming to dinner tomorrow?”
“Do we get to meet her?”
“Yeah. But don’t be a douchebag. She’s never had any true friends. I want her to feel at home here, like she has a reason to stay, or at least come back.”
“You’re falling hard.” Loval nudged Chatan.
He grinned. “Yeah, so don’t be an asshole. Help me find a way to keep her here, or at least convince her to let me come with her.”
“Wait, you’d leave with her?” Loval asked.
He nodded. “I feel this need to protect her. That means going if she goes. And she’s going at some point.” She came here for a purpose, and she always moved.
“Wow, okay. Shit. But does she really need protection? George filled me in on what happened.”
“Probably not. Doesn’t matter. I can’t resist this call.”
Chatan pulled a hair tie from his pocket and quickly braided his hair back. “Never mind that for now. We need to find this mage and make sure he gets out of Saint Morton before Josephine’s men find him.”
“They aren’t using the Monvoisin estate,” Loval said. “I scouted it.” He snorted.
The shaman’s spirit animal was a ringtail. He could get in and out of places without much notice, especially at night.
“Figured that. We would have been able to stop them the last time. Maybe someone needs to look into what property the family owns? And has anyone figured out what’s happening to the van to prevent us from tracking them?”
“Magic unlike the elders have seen. It’s a damned shame. I want to stop them, but I don’t know how we’re going to manage with the way they keep dodging us.”
“We will. Hopefully tonight. Then I won’t have to worry about Jacinda.” Chatan fastened his hair and tossed the braid back.
“Mac says she’s powerful,” Loval said.
Chatan smiled. “Unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. Josephine will want her. We can’t let that happen.”
“We won’t,” Loval promised.