Blood Flame

  Although on some level, she still couldn’t believe she’d been able not only to enthrall everyone in two rooms, but to release part of the thrall selectively. Connor had been exempted and when needed, Big Nuts as well.

  Connor rose from his seat. “I’ve narrowed it down to this. Your blood gave me power, real physical power. I could have fought better right then if we’d been attacked. It was an amazing sensation. And ever since, I’ve felt connected to you in a way I don’t get. I’ve also craved repeating the whole thing. If you feel a need to enthrall me, I’ll allow it.”

  Iris had reached a serious crossroads in her life. If she moved forward and attempted the thrall, she had a powerful prescience she’d never be able to go back, that her life would be forever changed.

  The problem was she didn’t know in what way, and that scared her.

  Yet something had happened during the lovemaking to her as well, beyond the pleasure and fulfillment of the act. She thought back to the moment their energies had become one. She glanced up at Connor who stood nearby, arms over his chest. He frowned at her, watching her closely as though he too understood the importance of this moment.

  “You don’t have to do this, Iris. If you have any doubt, it might be better to wait, to hold back. But I’m open.”

  She rose from her chair and moved close to him, placing her hand on his arm. “Do you feel that?”

  “I do. Like a soft jolt of electricity, not as bad as before.”

  She offered a half-smile. “No dirt bikes racing downhill?”

  “No. This is good. Pleasant even. But tell me what you’re looking for, what you hope to achieve.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know. I’m going with my instincts. There’s something unusual between us and it might be critical. I don’t pretend to understand how you and I came to be together. But Violet actually guards your presence here, my garden seems to adore you if you haven’t yet noticed, and both Sebastien and Pips have bestowed their not-easily-won approval.

  “All these elements have my witch senses lit up. Beyond that, I don’t have an answer for you. But would you be willing to explore it with me? And for that, I have to ask the hard question: Do you trust me?”

  For some reason, as Connor stared back at her and appeared to consider his answer, she felt as though her entire future depended on him saying yes to her. Again, she didn’t know why. But her witchness was in full bore.

  “You could have spelled me to get me to acquiesce.”

  “Yes, but why would I do that?”

  Connor’s stern expression relaxed. “The fact that you responded with exactly that question is the reason I’m saying yes.”

  Iris blinked several times. She honestly didn’t understand and felt as though she’d missed something. “Connor, I’ve never used my powers to trick anyone. And you have no idea how easy it would be to employ my spells all the time, even to get a better position in line for coffee. But I don’t do that.”

  “The more I’m around you,” he gestured to the protection spell covering her property, “the more I’m understanding your level of power. So, how do we do this, witch?”

  “I’ll need to be close because you’re as strong as you are. And I’ll want to touch you.”

  His lips twisted. “I’m liking this already.”

  Her heart gave a sudden powerful jump, and she had to take a moment to breathe. She knew then what the real problem was for her: She liked Connor in an essential way, the kind of man he was and how he treated her.

  “Me, too,” she responded quietly.

  She then pulled herself together, and began focusing her witch energy on the process of thrall. She settled herself within a few inches of his entire body until she felt his aura connecting with hers. She held her palm close to his face. “I’ll have to touch you, otherwise I won’t be able to do this. You’re too powerful. Is that okay? Just to be clear, right now you have control and you might not have any once I begin the process.”

  He smiled. “Go for it.”

  “Okay.” As she shifted her hand to place three of her fingers alongside his cheek, though well away from his vulnerable temple, she tapped into her ability to enthrall. She focused on her desire to bring Connor under her power.

  A warm stream of energy began to flow from her heart, through her veins, to finally warm her right arm then her hand where she connected with his cheek.

  The thrall began to release into Connor’s body, though not without difficulty. She’d been right. He was very powerful and she couldn’t have completed the process without the physical connection. This was a different kind of enthrallment from the spell she’d cast at Gary’s sex club, but almost as intense even though she was dealing with only one person.

  Connor never shifted eye-contact, another indication just how much power he had as a vampire. A lesser man would have lost a certain level of consciousness by now. Instead, Connor retained full use of his mind. Yet at the same time, she knew her thrall had engaged him.

  ~ ~ ~

  Connor had never felt like this in his entire altered existence. The sensation of Iris’s thrall was seductive in a surprising way. He’d felt her energy begin to flow into his mind so he knew her power was having an effect. But instead of drifting into a strange drugged out state, as enthrallment had been described to him a hundred times, he felt more aware and more relaxed than he’d ever been before.

  In addition, he could see Iris with great clarity and not just her beautiful, dark brown eyes or the peaches-and-cream complexion of her skin. Instead, his vision traveled deep inside her, to the parts that hurt and cried out for relief as well as the grief she lived with because of her alter.

  Violet’s death was uppermost in her mind and another loss that seemed equally as painful, though he didn’t know the source. He also sensed her deep disappointment in the Tribunal and a terrible ongoing pain at the general suffering within all five territories of their world.

  He saw the beauty of her soul laid out for him like a feast, as though he could devour her right now if he wanted. In an ironic twist, he knew he could hurt her badly as well, crush the essence of her and that he hadn’t expected. But all he wanted to do was gather up her pain and hold it close until it melted away. If only he could do that for her?

  He also saw how much she desired him, that her craving for him matched his own need and lust for her.

  “Iris,” he whispered.

  “This wasn’t what I expected.”

  “I know.” He took her in his arms and crushed her lips with his own. He expected resistance. Instead, she embraced him with an arm around his neck and parted her lips for him, all the while keeping her fingers against his cheek.

  He pierced her with his tongue and began a steady drive in and out of her mouth, letting her know what he would do to her the moment she gave permission.

  He stepped into her just enough to let her feel what had grown hard and ready for her. He even arched his hips in a rhythm to match the thrusts of his tongue.

  She groaned, and he pulled her tighter against him so that his whole body moved against hers. He felt her work to remain the contact of her fingers against his face to sustain the thrall.

  Her breasts tightened and released in response to his embrace so that except for the presence of their clothes, he was making love to her.

  It would take so little to move her to the couch and to finish what he’d started.

  But just like that, she drew back, took her fingers from his face, and her thrall left his mind.

  He felt odd, as though a warm blanket had been whipped away from him, leaving him cold.

  He didn’t release her fully, however, but held her gaze, wanting to understand everything he’d just experienced. Another part of him was also ready to take her back to bed if she said the word.

  Her eyes were wide. “How did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “You saw me. You saw all of me and it wasn’t right.”

  He shook his head
. “Are you blaming me? This was your thrall, not mine. I can’t help it if the process allowed me to see you.” He grew very still because tears had once more bloomed in her eyes. “Iris, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  When she pulled away, he let her go. He could see she was overwhelmed again and why wouldn’t she be? Maybe she’d enthralled him, but something about their connection had allowed him to know the deepest part of her. If he was in her shoes, he’d be upset as well. Hell, he’d be pissed.

  She began to pace, moving into the living area and out into the garden.

  ~ ~ ~

  Of all the things that had happened between them over the past two nights, this one had upset her the most.

  She was the witch. She had enthralled him. So, why had it turned out he could take a trip all the way into her soul? It should have been the other way around.

  As she walked through the garden, she forced herself to calm down. She needed to think this through, to try to understand what it meant or what it could mean in terms of her abilities as a witch and Connor’s vampire connection to her.

  She glanced up at the protective spell and discovered that a new swirl had entered the pattern, steel gray in color and very strong, very masculine.

  She took a moment to analyze the spell. She closed her eyes and extended her hands palms up. She felt the full length of it and there it was, Connor’s signature. He was now part of the protective spell. What the hell was going on?

  And when had his signature intruded?

  She knew, however, exactly when it had happened, right in the middle of the lovemaking. He’d looked wild and full of power. Yes, that’s when he’d infused part of his strength into the spell. She was dumbstruck all over again. How could a vampire be part of a spell like this?

  “Connor? Can you come here?”

  She shifted in his direction and saw that he was standing in the dining area. Having turned the TV back on, he was staring at it. He also seemed distressed.

  She began moving in his direction even before he called out. “Iris, you’ve got to see this. Now.”

  When she crossed the threshold, she heard the female anchor say, “We’ll have more news about the massacre in Rotten Row, after this.”

  Before the station cut to commercial, Iris saw the crime scene from the helicopter’s camera as it panned back. There were a dozen Crescent Border Patrol SUVs present with lights flashing, several ambulances, and black body bags lined up on the street.

  She drew close to Connor. A discussion about his signature in her spell could wait. He muted the commercial.

  “What happened?” she asked. “That was Big Nuts’s club, right?”

  He nodded. “Yep. And apparently, they’re all dead. But I can’t help but think it’s no coincidence we were in Rotten Row the night before.”

  Iris frowned. “Do you really think this vampire, the one who’s after us, did this?”

  “My instincts are shouting at me that this is our guy. I just don’t know how he could have pulled it off by himself.”

  “Maybe he wasn’t alone.”

  “That’s my thought, too.” He pulled out his cell. “I’m going to call one of my fellow officers who works Rotten Row and get some facts.”

  When he made the call, he put the phone on speaker then set it on the table between them.

  “Crescent Border Patrol. How may I direct your call?”

  “Lily Hansen.”

  “One moment.”

  A woman’s voice came on the line. “Dispatch. Lily Hansen.”

  “Lily, Connor here.”

  “Connor, thank God you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “But Sentinel … and you didn’t call in.” She sounded worried.

  “I know, and I’m sorry about that. Got a lot going on. But right now I need to speak with Vaughn. I just heard about Rotten Row, and I may have information for him. Have him call me.”

  “I’ll get on it right now.”

  When Lily ended the call, Iris asked, “Don’t you have his cell number?”

  “It doesn’t work that way in Crescent when we’re on duty. We can place outgoing calls, but all other communication goes directly through Lily and her gang. We tried it the other way, but the numbers got out and our phones got jammed up quick.”

  “Understood. And who’s Vaughn?”

  “A good friend. He’s worked Border Patrol almost as long as I have. He’s also been assigned to Rotten Row for the past two years.”

  Iris didn’t know Officer Vaughn, but if he was a good friend, she knew Connor trusted him.

  When the commercials ended, Connor unmuted the TV. The female anchor shared the gruesome stats. “More than forty dead so far, but the count isn’t final. The owner of the club, Gary Smith, was not found among the bodies. Wait a minute. I have Jose on location with a live feed from the canal near Amado Bridge in Crescent Territory. Go ahead Jose.”

  Amado again.

  The Hispanic reporter was standing with a finger up to his earpiece. Behind him a body lay on the ground covered in a white sheet. “Thanks, Evelyn. We’ve just had confirmation that this is the body of Gary Smith, owner of the House of Big Sex. And apparently, he’s missing the part of his anatomy that gave him his famous nickname.”

  “Jesus,” Connor murmured.

  “No kidding.” Iris felt a chill go straight through her. The reporter spoke for another thirty seconds but had nothing to add to the basic info. There were no suspects, no one saw anything.

  Typical of Five Bridges.

  ~ ~ ~

  Connor stared at the body on the ground behind the reporter. Big Nuts had been alive a few hours ago. Now he was dead.

  He tried to picture what kind of force could have overcome Gary’s powerful security entourage and his gaze slid to Iris. As a witch, she’d been able to incapacitate them. If either he or Iris had been motivated, they could have done some killing. But that’s not who either of them were.

  But what about the vampire he’d seen in Gary’s club? If he’d used a witch’s spell to disguise his identity, maybe he’d employed a dark witch’s talent for a lot more than that.

  His phone rang, breaking his train of thought. Vaughn’s name came up on the screen. “This is him.”

  Iris nodded. She had her arms crossed tight over her chest, and her lips were pinched together. He could relate.

  He tapped the front of the phone to answer, but kept it flat on the table, on speaker. “Vaughn. Thanks for getting back to me.”

  “Connor, good to hear your voice. We’ve got a mess out at Big Nuts’s place. They’re all dead.”

  “I’ve seen the footage. That’s some rough stuff you’ve got over there. But how did they die?”

  “Looks like it was a witch, using her killing power.”

  “A witch?” And there it was. The missing piece.

  “Yeah, and a damn powerful one. She somehow got into the place and had a field day. She also employed a blade, or had someone with her who did. She even killed the sex workers as well as their clients.”

  Frowning, he glanced at Iris, who in turn offered a bemused shrug.

  Connor glanced at the TV, which had switched from Big Nuts back to Rotten Row. “Vaughn, I’m looking at a live copter feed of Gary’s place. Are you okay out there?” He knew what the local businesses could get like when their clientele got disrupted.

  “We’re okay for now. We’ve got the scene contained and enough officers to keep the locals from rioting. But I won’t mind getting the hell out of here. You know this area. The owners only care about one thing and for that the traffic needs to move and keep moving. But before I answer any more of your questions, you have to tell me what happened out at Sentinel Bridge. How the hell did you survive the blast?”

  Connor held out his hand to Iris. She immediately unfolded her arms and settled her hand in his. “The witch I was with, a TPS officer, had a premonition and I took her at her word. Maybe a second after I headed into the air with her, t
he bridge blew. It was a close call.”

  “When we learned you’d survived, believe me, there was celebrating down at the station. But why didn’t you call in, let us know you were okay?”

  Connor glanced at Iris once more.

  She nodded. “Tell him everything.”

  “Wait. Is the witch there right now? With you?”

  “Yes. We were both set-up, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it. But Gary was involved. He confessed that someone had paid him a lot of money to make sure I was sent out to Amado Bridge and later, Sentinel. The TPS officer was given the same orders, to both places.”

  “Both of you? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Believe me, we can’t find the connection either.”

  “So, we’ve got a dangerous rogue witch on our hands and what else?”

  “One of ours. A vampire.”

  There was silence for a moment, then, “You’re saying a vampire and a witch are working together? That’s insane.”

  He glanced down at his hand holding Iris’s. “I know.”

  Iris drew a little closer and covered their joined hands with one of her own. He met her worried gaze.

  Connor continued, “In my opinion, the massacre confirms it. The vampire who paid off Big Nuts was in the club. I saw him. But he was be-spelled, so I couldn’t get a decent visual. Another indication he was probably working with a witch. In fact, it explains a lot.” He told Vaughn the essentials of their visit to the club, then asked, “Have you seen any of the security footage? Gary had an excellent system in place, and Officer Meldeere and I are probably on it, as well as the vampire, maybe even the witch.”

  “It’s been trashed.”

  Connor blew the air from his cheeks. “This guy is good.”

  “Yeah, but who is he and what witch has he joined forces with over in Elegance?”

  Iris released his hand and moved away. Connor watched her start to pace again, a frown between her brows.

  “I have no idea. But he’s well-connected. Easton sent me specifically out to the first bridge as well as Sentinel and Donaldson at the Trib sent Iris, that is, Officer Meldeere to both places as well.”