Magic, New Mexico_A Touch of Death Read online

  “The broken ship?”she asked in complete disbelief. Her voice rose two octaves. “With enough room for only one person?”

  He didn’t answer her. Instead, he lifted her into his arms, even though the half-healed wounds on his torso and arms cried out in protest, and climbed into the ship with her across his lap. The fit was tight. But when the glass over them slowly slid shut, he sent a prayer that this might just be their escape.

  Desperate, he started pushing buttons.

  A crackled voice spoke in a language he didn’t understand. “Gfthguy?”

  To his shock, Alexa mimicked the voice back. “Gfhgui.” Or a word close to the one spoken.

  “What does that mean?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, I don’t speak alien,” she replied tensely.

  Instantly, the ship responded. It started to shake as the lights on the dashboard flickered and changed different colors.

  And that’s when a face appeared outside, leaning over the ship. Long dark hair framed a pale face that was twisted in rage. Aghader.

  “Can he see us?” Alexa asked, cringing back into his chest.

  “Who cares? As long as he can’t get in here we’ll be okay.”

  “But they’re aliens! They probably know exactly how to get in!”Her voice was rising again.

  He looked out at them cautiously. “I don’t think so. If they knew how to open it, they would have done it by now.”

  The alien shifter’s white cloudy eye, surrounded by scars, was glowing. Howls rose around the ship, and then he felt the wolves slamming against the sides, pitching the vessel slightly one way and then another. Aghader curled his hands into fists and then slammed them down on the glass.

  Please let this damn alien technology hold out against them!

  Brendan started hitting buttons again, desperate. If he couldn’t get the ship to work, he’d just trapped himself and Alexa. He’d destroyed any chance that they might escape.

  The strange alien voice spoke again. “Jtffurie?”

  “Jtfury,” Alexa spoke back, her voice edged with panic.

  The ship’s shaking grew more and more intense, and then, the edge of the glass started to slide back. No! He found the button! Brendan frantically hit the spot that closed the top of the glass, but it didn’t respond.

  This can’t be happening!

  Aghader’s long arm reached into the opening, his hand trying to grip the front of Alexa’s dress.

  She reached out, her movements quick and sure, and snapped his wrist.

  Aghader screamed, a bloodcurdling sound. His hand lay limply just above them, a bone sticking out of one side as blood gushed down over them.

  The ship started to lift off the ground, and Aghader pulled his hand free just in time.

  Brendan hit the button over and over again to close the lid, when at last the ship responded. The lid continued closing as they started to rise in the air. Their vessel slowly pitched forward, until they were flung against the dashboard and the roof. Peering down, they took in the ground forty feet below them.

  A dozen angry wolves prowled, paced, leaped toward them, with Aghader standing in the center, his eyes filled with rage. He sensed in them their need for blood. Their need to destroy their enemy.

  But they can’t reach us.

  “Thank God!” Alexa exclaimed. “I thought we were—”

  Then, the ship started to sink. The lights on the dashboard dulled. And they moved downward, every inch closer to certain death.

  “What’s happening?” she asked, her words laced with panic.

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he started to slam the buttons.

  The alien voice began again, softer and more garbled.

  Alexa repeated back to it, but nothing happened.

  “Damn it,” Brendan shouted. “I think that’s alien for ‘you’re screwed.’”

  A shifter leaped in front of them, only missing their ship by a few feet.

  We are screwed.

  Chapter Seven

  Alexa’s mind raced as she tried to repeat back every word the ship spoke, but nothing happened. She looked at their enemy drawing closer as they continued to fall slowly toward the ground. Her vampiric teeth elongated. If they thought they could kill her, that they could hurt Brendan again, they had no idea who they faced. She might have lost her touch of death, but they would quickly learn that she was quite adept at killing without it.

  Every muscle in her body tensed as an alien shifter jumped on the front of their ship, followed by three others. The wolves’ nails scraped at the glass on the ship’s hood, but they failed to find purchase, and tumbled back to the ground.

  She shifted in Brendan’s lap, wishing she had her legs beneath her, that she could easily leap from the vessel and take them by surprise. The odds aren’t in our favor, but I always gamble on living.

  More wolves hit the front of the ship when a deafening roar filled the air. The wolves turned and fell from the front of the ship. She looked to the side, and a chill ran over her skin.

  A dragon flew straight toward them. She instantly knew it wasn’t a dragon from Mist, because she would recognize the twin brothers anywhere. Nor did it conceal itself with magic. What kind of dragon doesn’t care if it’s seen?

  “Uh…dragon,” she said, hitting Brendan in the chest.

  “I saw it,” he muttered, still fooling with the controls.

  She glanced at it again. It was massive, with scales that gleamed in the morning light. It roared again, fire blasting from its mouth.

  “Aren’t you worried?” she asked.

  “Yes. But there’s not a hell of a lot I can do if this ship doesn’t move.” He punched a button and the lights outside the craft turned on.

  “Great. Maybe it’s afraid of light.” She didn’t need to have experience with dragon shifters to know this one was pissed. The spikes on its spine stood straight up, prepared for battle. It was coming at them, and it wanted them to know it was coming at them.

  As she spied the smoke still pouring from its nostrils, she realized this dragon was much more dangerous than the shifters. Those teeth could probably chomp right through the spaceship if he chose to.

  “Who do you think it’s coming for?” she asked worriedly.

  “At best? The aliens. And that probably includes me.” His serious gaze pierced hers. “At worst? It’s just hungry. So that’s all of us.”

  A second later, its shadow covered them. Enormous talons closed around their ship, and suddenly, they were pulled into the sky.

  “Oh shit. I guess it just wants us.” Somehow that thought didn’t make her feel any better.

  She pressed herself against the window to watch the wolves. Below them, the alien shifters gave chase on land for several seconds. And then, before her eyes, transformed into scaled birds the size of large dogs.

  The creatures looked like poor imitations of a dragon. Instead of looking fantastical and beautiful, like the one holding them, the aliens had become hideous, gray with yellow eyes and grotesquely shaped spiked bodies. They flapped their wings, wings that looked slick. Wet.

  A dozen of the horrific creations lifted off the ground and gave chase.

  She looked between the dragon and them. “What’s the plan here?”

  Brendan inhaled slowly, and she turned to look at him. Realization suddenly dawned on his face. “I know that dragon! It’s the sheriff. It’s Theo. When we met him, he smelled like a bigger predator, but I couldn’t tell what he was. I’ve never met a dragon shifter before.” He sounded awed.

  She released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “So, at least we know he’s on our side. But what about them?”

  He turned and looked at the alien shifters, who, strangely enough, were rapidly gaining on them. His face paled. “This isn’t good. I’ve never seen them shift into anything else before. I think keeping the wolf shifter facade was important to them. The fact that they don’t care now means they’re so desperate they don’t care who finds out
.”

  “So what can we do to help Theo?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing while we’re in the air.”

  A morbid sense of curiosity overtook her.“You absolutely can’t change into…something else?”

  “Not that I know of.” His expression became guarded. “Only a wolf.”

  “That’s…too bad. It could have been an advantage right now.”

  The alien shifters drew closer. Does Theo see them?

  “Theo!” she shouted, pointing behind them at their enemies.

  The dragon cocked its head and one enormous, yellow-slitted eye peered in at her, and then back at the pack of frightening mutant dragons. He roared again, so loud it shook their ship.

  He suddenly halted in midair, turning and flapping his great wings so they hovered in place. And then, fire blasted from his mouth.

  Two of the aliens caught fire, and their blazing bodies went tumbling to the earth far below.

  That works.

  A change seemed to ripple through the aliens. They halted in midair as well, eyeing the dragon and glancing at each other.

  They know he’s on our side now.

  She watched with bated breath as, very slowly, the aliens turned around and went the opposite direction. “Thank God!”

  Brendan’s arms wrapped around her more tightly. “I don’t like owing people favors, but this is one time I’m grateful for it. Theo got here just in the nick of time.”

  “And you got your communications device.” She let her head fall back on his chest, the anxiety melting from her. They might currently be in a broken ship carried by a dragon, but at least for one moment, they were safe.

  His hand touched her hair, hesitantly.

  Her heart began to race again.

  And then, he slowly stroked her hair, finishing with his fingertips caressing her back.

  She listened to the pounding of his heart, wondering if it was due to what they had been through, or if it was because they were currently in a small space, with her across his lap. She hoped the latter.

  Her fingers began to play with the buttons on his shirt, her fingertips grazing in bare flesh between them.

  “Alexa, I…”

  She stilled. “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry I got you involved in all of this.” His head bowed and his shoulders hunched slightly.

  “That’s okay,” she said the words, but felt strangely disappointed. “Life for any magical creature is dangerous. Besides, when we get to Mist, I’ll be dragging you into my chaos.”

  He chuckled, the sound raspy. “I guess we’ll be even then.”

  She shifted in his lap, surprised when she felt his arousal. So I do affect him!

  She lifted her head from his chest, and his hand dropped from her hair. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his, even as a wave of uncertainty threatened to sweep her under. It still felt unbelievable that her champion was Brendan. That he was back in her life after all this time.

  If my powers were gone forever, and if both he and my people would be safe, I think I could love him. Maybe I’ve always loved him.

  But that’s a lot of ifs. And a maybe.

  And what if her powers were still there, lingering beneath the surface, waiting to claim yet another person she loved?

  Her stomach twisted. Could she risk it?

  No. Never.

  It was a terribly irony. She couldn’t save her people as a powerless woman, but she couldn’t love Brendan either because her powers might still be there, lurking in the depths of her magic. It felt like a cruel slap from the hand of fate. A lump formed in her throat, and she looked away from him.

  She wanted to be angry. Scream. Break something. But instead, she was desperately trying not to cry. This man deserved someone who would protect him. Someone who could make up for every awful thing he’d experienced in his life.

  There was one side of her that imagined him running Darkmore by her side. He would make a damn good leader. He was strong. Good. Protective of those who were weaker than him. What he’d gone through to get the communicator proved that.

  And at Darkmore, he would be safe. Protected by guards. Protected by high walls. Protected by his vampire wife who would destroy anyone who dared to harm him.

  Yet, you cannot promise that he will be safe from you.

  And so, she couldn’t take him for her own. She couldn’t give him all the things she wished, even if she wanted to.

  “Alexa?” He touched her cheek, but she refused to look at him. “It’s okay. I understand.”

  His words were so gentle. She buried her face in his neck and wrapped one hand around his nape to tangle her fingers in his short hair. This man, half-human, half-alien, whatever, he smelled so good, so sweet. Masculine. An intoxicating scent mixed with the rich fragrance of the earth. And also? She inhaled again. Something she’d never smelled before. Something…alien.

  A shudder racked her body, and she felt her inner muscles squeeze. His scent aroused her. Something that had never happened before in her life.

  She had fed many times on willing, living humans, but never before had she fed because she knew the intoxicating taste of someone would bring her over the edge. Never had she fed in a moment of sexual pleasure. And feeding to eat and feeding to taste a lover are two entirely different things.

  Oh, how he tempted her! But if she sank her teeth into the soft flesh of his throat, every ounce of willpower within her would evaporate, and she would take him there and then.

  This is not the time, or the place. And you know you’ll have to let him go.

  Clamping down on a moan, she pulled back from him and wrapped her arms around herself. Took deep breaths. Told herself not to touch him again.

  Above them, the dragon’s grip changed, causing the ship to jerk. And then, the dragon released them. For one minute, they were falling. A scream tore from her lips.

  The ship hit the ground a second later.

  She panted, struggling to right herself. “Where are we?”

  “I don’t know.” Brendan hit the glass, and a blue ring radiated from the spot he touched, as the lid of the ship slowly drew back. “But it’s definitely time to get out.”

  She climbed free the second there was enough room for her to squeeze out. Falling onto the dirt of the desert floor, she climbed to her feet, dusting off her dress. When she straightened, she looked behind the ship. They were back at the cabin.

  “We made it!” she said with a laugh.

  Brendan launched himself out of the ship, hitting the dirt behind her, and then pulled her into a hug. “I was sure we were—”

  “I know.” She laughed again and drew back from him, their eyes meeting.

  For a minute, the heat of his touch on her hips seemed to sear her flesh, uncurling heat throughout her entire body. Whoa!

  Taking a step back from him, she swallowed and looked away. “And we got the device.”

  His gaze turned upward, and he spoke after a long second. “I can’t believe all of this could be over with soon. Years of pain, experiments, and suffering. I can make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

  “At least one problem will be over,” she said with a humorless laugh. “We still have Darkmore to deal with.”

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget.”

  Theo came out from behind the house a minute later. His cowboy hat askew, his shirt buttoned incorrectly. “I thought you both promised me no more trouble.”

  Brendan looked down at his shoes. “Sorry, sir.”

  The sheriff straightened his shoulders and scanned over Brendan. “It looks like you have some explaining to do.”

  Behind him, the door of the cabin opened. Out came Topper and Sabrina. The fairy’s cheeks were bright pink.

  Alexa straightened her spine and walked toward them. “We’re really sorry. We just—”

  Topper threw her arms around her, pulling her close. “I’m so glad you’re back and you’re safe.”

  Alexa was shocked when
her eyes prickled with tears. What was it with this woman? Why was she always hugging her? It was confusing. She couldn’t possibly keep her careful mask in place, couldn’t possibly act like Alexa Darkmore, if this woman was always treating her like…a person.

  “Are you okay, dear?” The older woman pulled back, and their gazes met.

  Alexa stared. The older woman had such a kind face. Even though her hair was now weaved with pink, she made Alexa wonder if this is what her grandmother would have been like.

  But no. Grandmother was a Darkmore. Mother said she didn’t hug. Rarely smiled. And that her expectations were even harsher than my own mother’s.

  “Alexa, dear?”

  She shook herself back to reality, finding her throat strangely dry. “I’m fine.”

  Topper pushed the hair back from her face. “I’m going to be giving those Fates a talking-to. ‘Stay out of it,’ they said. But look what would have happened if Sabrina hadn’t told us what was happening!”

  “Really, I’m fine.”

  Her great-aunt leaned closer. “It’s all right to be in trouble sometimes, I promise. And when you need it, you have people here to help you take care of it.”

  I have people to take care of me? She mulled the thought over for a second, then dismissed it. I don’t need others to take care of me. “Thank you,” she said anyway.

  Topper stared for a moment longer, then shook her head. “Let’s go inside.”

  “Actually,” Brendan said, the word stiff. “I think we should get out of here as fast as possible. Those shifters are still tracking us.”

  “Boy,” the sheriff said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere until we talk. And my first question will be what the devil those creatures were that chased us, because they sure as hell weren’t werewolves.”

  Brendan’s jaw worked, and for one long second she thought he would argue, but then he simply said, “Yes, sir.”

  “And I think I’m going to get going…” Sabrina inched back toward a beat-up truck.

  Alexa resisted the urge to call her a traitorous coward, after all, she’d sent Theo to help. She forced a smile instead. “Safe travels!”