Denai Touch: Excalibar Investigations Series (7 page)

But no matter what, Jason knew he’d never stop wanting her. He loved her, despite knowing he could never have her. There was no future for them, he could never truly be with her without revealing what he really was and if he did, it would only put her in danger.

Stripping down to his boxers, he slipped on an old, grey T-shirt and climbed into bed. Staring up at the ceiling and hearing Cate in the shower, he clenched his eyes shut and tried not to imagine her naked body under the hot stream.

He really needed to move out. Being around her every day was hard enough, but living under the same roof was proving to be torture. The situation was only meant to be a temporary solution until he found a new flat, but instead he’d ended up staying for almost six months.

If she was sick of him, she would have asked him to leave long before now. He’d meant to find somewhere else, but somehow couldn’t bring himself to do it. The truth was, this was the first place he’d ever truly felt at home and comfortable.

Most of his six thousand plus years of existence, he’d spent moving around, travelling, fighting wars, and working. He’d never allowed himself to put down roots and settle anywhere for fear
they
would find him. Living that way often made him restless if he stayed in one place too long. Yet he’d been in Faliaster for ten years since becoming partners with Cate and now he couldn’t imagine ever leaving.

This had to stop! He had to put an end to this once and for all. Tomorrow he’d start looking for a place of his own and a new woman — anything to get his mind off of her.

Cate climbed into bed, surprised that, for once, she felt strangely energised. Normally, she was drained and exhausted, sometimes with a killer headache. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever felt this good. Well, except when she’d been with Finn, her Celtic demigod ex-lover. She and Finn had slept together for a few weeks before she finally ended it. The sex had been good, especially when his energy had recharged her powers, but she’d never really felt anything for him. When he declared his love she’d known it was time to go their separate ways. She knew she could never love him; things had only ever been physical between them. Nope, she’d done the love thing once and didn’t want to feel the heartache ever again.

Being at the mercy of someone else’s emotions often made it hard for her to tell who was feeling what. At least Finn had been immune to her powers, or at least harder to read than most people, which was what had partly made the sex so much fun for a while, until he’d started to want more.

Cate hadn’t really got on with him outside the bedroom, they didn’t have anything in common, and hand holding was something she’d never felt comfortable with since it only made the person more open to her.

The only one she’d ever held hands with comfortably was Jason and he was the only guy she enjoyed spending time with – aside from her brothers.

She thought back to how he’d healed her earlier, how her skin always tingled when he touched her yet she never felt anything from him.

Why had his eyes glowed like that? She’d noticed it before, but he always seemed to brush it off. Elementals eyes didn’t shine in that way – at least none she was aware of. Deep down she knew there was something he was hiding — especially the way he could control more than one element — yet she’d never confronted him about it. No, she’d let him tell her about it when he was ready.

Curling up, she closed her eyes and it wasn’t long before sleep claimed her.

Cate was standing in an unfamiliar room filled with bright sunlight. Looking down, she saw she was wearing a long, flimsy, blue robe that was so sheer it was practically see-through. Silver combs held back her long, auburn curls as she stood waiting.

She turned and walked out onto the balcony, feeling the smooth tiles beneath her bare feet. The light of two suns blazed overhead, the island stretched out until it met the shimmering azure sea. The smell of jasmine and the ocean filled the air as she looked down on the golden sands below.

Was this to be her home? It was beautiful, but she didn’t know how long she’d be here. Fear settled in the pit of her stomach. She had been chosen; she’d bring the god’s anger down on her and dishonour to her family if she refused.

Cate had no idea what her husband looked like or even his name. Some people said the Elemental Gods were scarred and disfigured by the very nature they controlled. What if her husband was a hideous beast, like some of the Demonkind she had seen slain by her people? The thought made her skin crawl.

Leaving the balcony, she walked back in and looked around the room with its white-washed walls. The room was empty, save for a huge four-poster bed made from the finest dryad oak. Another gift to her husband, no doubt.

What if she displeased him? She had heard that some of the gods had cast their brides aside because their beauty was not perfect enough. She glanced at the door, wondering if it was too late to flee.

Walking to the door, she felt the air behind her crackle with energy. Turning, she saw a tornado of swirling blue light and felt as if she were in the presence of nature itself.

“Are you leaving?” a voice asked.

She was unable to detect any emotion from the voice and silently prayed to the goddess that she hadn’t angered it. “No,” she said finally, still staring at the spinning entity. “Won’t you let me see you? Or am I to be married to a floating cloud?” Cate heard a rumble of laughter or at least she hoped it was.

The tornado turned into a floating wave of energy that twirled around her; she felt as if hands gently caressed her face and neck, pushing her hair aside. “You are so beautiful.”

“I’m sure you say that to all your brides, only to cast them aside soon after.” Goddess, her grandmother had warned her she should hold her tongue; it often got her into trouble. “Forgive me. I have a habit of speaking my mind when I shouldn’t.”

This time she definitely heard the sound of laughter. “I like a woman who speaks her mind, but you are wrong,” he told her. “You are my first bride and I want you to be my only wife. I have been longing for centuries and now you are mine.”

“But I’m no one special.”

“To me you are everything, Cate.”

“How do you – never mind. The gods are all knowing.”

He chuckled. “So we would like everyone to believe, but I know you for we have met before in my dreams. That is how I knew you were mine.”

The light continued to dance around her. “Will you let me see you now or am I to be ravished by the wind?”

There was a blinding flash of light as a figure of a tall, powerfully-built man formed in front of her. He towered over her; his hair was midnight black and cut short to frame his face. Muscle rippled over his warrior’s body; he was bare-chested and wore loose fitting trousers, and intricate blue tattoos curled down his arms, along with strange symbols of stars and moons.

Breathless, she looked up to see a face of sheer, masculine beauty. But what was most astonishing about him was his swirling silver eyes, resembling pure Silveron, that sparkled like the stars.

“Does my human form not please you?”

“No – you’re perfect.” Just looking at him made her mouth go dry and she grew damp between her thighs. Any fears she had melted away. “I know your face — you’re the one who has haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember.”

He smiled and reached out to take her hand. “I won’t force you to be my bride, Cate. If you wish to leave then go now. I will make sure no dishonour comes to you or your family.”

She felt overwhelmed by his words and shook her head. “No, I want to stay here with you.” She laced her fingers with his. “You haven’t told me your name.”

“My name is Jadam, but everyone calls me Jason.”

“Then you will be my Jason.”

He leaned down, gently brushing his lips against hers. She returned his kiss uncertainly, afraid she would do something wrong. He kissed her slowly at first, savouring the sweet taste of her. He’d waited so long just to hold her like this.

She felt as if she had been waiting all her life just for this moment. His arms came up around her waist; she linked her arms around his neck, pulling him down so she could deepen their kiss.

Suddenly, the bliss inside her dream abruptly vanished as she saw Tasha emerge from the shadows.

“Find it for me.”

Cate felt Tasha’s vice-like grip clamp around her throat, strangling her. She choked, unable to breathe as images started hitting her like bullets to the head.

“Cate!”

“No, no, no!” she screamed, struggling against the stranglehold.

“Cate! Cate, wake up!”

Her eyes flew open; Cate found herself back in her bedroom, with Jason on the bed beside her, his hands on her shoulders as he tried to shake her awake. There was a loud bang as furniture hit the floor. She was breathing hard, still feeling the tightness around her throat.

“What happened? Are you alright?” he asked anxiously.

Cate turned the lamp on and saw the concern etched on his face. “I – I think so.” she rubbed her neck, but there were no burn marks there. “I was dreaming.”

She remembered her earlier dream, of seeing Jason standing there, but now his eyes looked their normal shade of grey, not the swirling silver. Everything else was the same. The only visible tattoos she knew he had were a Denai star on his right bicep and a crescent moon on the left, the symbol of a Mavis. She knew she’d better not mention the first dream; it was too weird to think about.

“I think I had a vision, it felt like when Tasha forced me to use my powers earlier.”

“What did you see?”

“I’m not sure, it was all a blur. At least my head isn’t killing me for once.”

“Glad my magic seems to have done some good. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Cate nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. How’d you know I was having a bad dream?”

“You were crying out and the place was shaking. When I came in everything in the room was levitating – except for your bed.”

“I didn’t know I could do that,” she said, biting her lip nervously.

“Well, at least nothing seems to be broken,” Jason rose to his feet. “I could stay and watch you for a while if you want – just to make sure nothing else happens.”

Cate hesitated, she was afraid of going back to sleep, but it wasn’t only because she was worried about having bad dreams. What if she dreamt about them again? “You shouldn’t have to lose sleep over me.”

“I’ll probably just lie there worrying about you anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, if it’s not too weird for you.”

“Just stay and keep an eye on me for a while, then you can go back to your own bed.”

“Okay.” He slipped into the opposite side of the bed as she lay down and turned the light off.

Goddess, this is weird.
She closed her eyes, but knew sleep would be a long time coming.

As if sensing her unease, she felt Jason slip an arm around her and she moved closer, resting her head against his shoulder, just as sleep finally took hold again.

The team set out early the next morning to start raiding the Thorn’s compound. Cate was feeling a little awkward around Jason, but tried not to show it, and he seemed a little distant too.

“Hi sweetie.” Jade smiled brightly as she came into the courtyard where the rest of the team were already gathered.

Some people could be so cheery in the mornings. It just wasn’t natural!

“Morning.” Cate took a gulp of coffee.

“Which building do you want us to take first?” Steve asked.

“Start in the main building,” she replied.

Jason was joined by a redheaded male that Cate recognised as Doug, a Werewolf and fellow Enforcer.

“Is Mel going to join us?” Cate asked, referring to Doug’s Denai other half.

“I think she had a meeting with the GM this morning, but she should be here soon,” he replied. “Congrats by the way.”

“On what?” Did he think she and Jason were a couple now?

“Becoming the Second, of course. Can’t say Mel will be as congratulating though. I think she feels sorry for you.”

“Thanks, I feel sorry for me too. Jade, why don’t you and I start searching the upstairs of the main house?” she asked. “Everyone keep your comm links on and be vigilant. There’s probably a few traps around here.”

Cate and Jade passed through the main house. From what they saw it appeared scarcely furnished; it had hideous dark red walls and mahogany floors throughout. After a quick scan to make sure the building was clear of any potential hazards, the two of them headed up to the first floor and into the largest bedroom, which they thought was Bethany’s.

“You and Jason seem a bit off this morning,” Jade commented.

“I was hoping to talk to you about that.” She turned away from a set of bookcases. “Something really weird happened last night.” She explained the dream she had about Jason and the following nightmare. “Then this morning we woke up in bed together, with our arms around each other. Talk about embarrassment.”

Jade grinned. “It’s about time you two...”

“We didn’t – I mean, we didn’t have sex,” she said in a low voice. “We just fell asleep together.”

“In your bed and in each other’s arms. Hey, do you think maybe that dream was trying to tell you something?”

“It was just a dream and a weird one at that. I’m not some kind of virginal sacrifice and as far as I know Jason isn’t a god. Nor is he in love with me.”

“Ha, yeah right! Sweetie, I know you’re good at reading people, but Denai or not, anyone can see that Jason –”

“Don’t start! I’ve told you a million times, we’re not a couple and nor would I want to be.”

“Oh come on, you know him better than anyone, and you’ve been good friends for years. All you need to do now is take the next step.”

“He’s my partner and…”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t ever thought of Jason in that way. The guy looks like a god and has all that sexy male energy about him. Hell, even I drool over him sometimes.”

“You drool over any breathing male!” Cate laughed.

“The point is, you have a gorgeous guy who likes spending time with you and lives under your roof.”

“He has his own room!” she protested.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, you kind of liked waking up next to him, didn’t you? If that were me, I would have had my way with him and maybe tied him to the bedpost.” Jade smiled at the image. “Come on Cate, when was the last time you had sex anyway?”

“I just haven’t taken a fancy to anyone lately.”

“You haven’t been on a date in weeks. Why not ask Jason out?”

“Goddess, no!”

“He’s not seeing anyone, is he?”

“I don’t know. We don’t really talk about that kind of thing.”

“Great, he’s single and so are you. You two are completely perfect for each other. It’s time you got over your commitment phobia.”

“I don’t have a commitment phobia and I don’t do serious relationships either, you know that.”

“Fine, think of him as a friend with benefits.”

“We work together — being anything other than friends will just be too weird. Not that I want anything more than that.”

“But you’re thinking about it.”

Cate groaned. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything to you. Now I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

“Damn right! We need to come up with the best way for you to ask Jason out.”

“I am
not
asking Jason out,” she snapped. “Now let’s focus on work, that’s an order.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Wanna bet? I’m team leader and Second Grand Mistress.”

“I can’t believe you’re pulling rank on me.” Jade pouted.

Cate grinned. “The rank might as well be good for something. I order you not to talk about Jason and dating any more. I could always compel you.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

The two of them spent the next hour searching through Bethany’s room, including her library; some of the books contained very dark magic – so dangerous they had been banned by the United Magickind Council.

A bleeping in her ear told Cate someone was calling on the comm link. She pressed the tiny device to accept the call. “Cate.”

“Cate? Are you getting anything up there?” It was Steve. “Because we’re getting nothing down here. How did they manage to clean things out so quickly?”

“They knew we were onto them. Keep looking.”

Cate started examining the bookcases again, there had to be something hidden here somewhere. There was a soft click as a panel slid back.

“Jade? I think I’ve found something.”

Outside, Jason and Doug were examining the coven spell circle.

“Definitely some symbols for blood magic,” Jason commented.

“I’m surprised Blue Eyes isn’t down here. You two are usually joined at the hip. Did you have an argument?”

“No.” He glanced around to make sure no one else was in ear shot. “Doug, I’m in trouble. I can’t keep being around Cate. She’s starting to notice things – like when my eyes glowed last night.”

“Shit! Jase, you need to be more careful. You know how important keeping your secret is.”

“I can’t help it — you know how I feel about her. Maybe…”

“No way! You know damn well you can’t tell her the truth. Even if she was alright with it, they could use her to get to you,” Doug sighed. “I knew you would grow too close to her. This has gone far enough. You need to walk away now, leave Faliaster if you have to.”

“I can’t. I’ve finally found a place I feel at home and have real friends and family here. I don’t want to just throw all that away.”

“What’s more important than your life?”

“Cate is more important than anything.”

“You can’t spend your life pining away for someone you can never be with. You need to move on, walk away from her.”

“Could you ever walk away from Mel?”

“That’s different. Ours isn’t a forbidden, doomed love.”

“I can’t leave her. I won’t.” His hands clenched into fists and he grimaced at the thought.

“At least distance yourself from her a bit, move out of her house. Better yet date someone else. Being celibate for so long isn’t natural, especially for one of your kind. You’ve never had trouble getting women before.”

Jason sighed. “Perhaps you’re right, but I had a dream last night. You know in the old stories, where women from the clans were given to the old gods to be their brides?” he asked. “In the dream I was in a villa, on one of the sacred isles and Cate was my bride. It felt so real, like she was actually there with me.”

Doug chuckled. “Gods above, Blue Eyes would kill you if she ever found out. I don’t imagine her as the virgin sacrifice type.”

“That’s not the important part. In the dream I was able to show her my true self. I didn’t have to hide anything and she was okay with it.”

“Mate, you know that can never happen. She’s going to be the Grand Mistress one day, there’s no way you can be with her. Not without the Ashrali raining bloody hell down on you both.”

He nodded. “I know. You’re right, I need to move on and I will.”

There was a shimmer of silver orbs as Cate teleported in beside him. “Hey, I found something that could be really important,” she held up a small, leather-bound, black book, “this is Bethany’s Book of Shadows.”

“Brilliant! Find anything useful?”

“Some of it seems to be concealed, but I’m hoping we might be able to reveal whatever’s hidden inside. Let’s leave the others to it, and go and see if we can get some answers from this thing.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t be doing this at the Tower?” Jason asked as they walked into the small third bedroom which she used to practise her magic in.

“No, it’s safer here. I don’t want word getting out that we have this.”

“You think there’s a spy at the Tower?”

“Hell, Raven has spies everywhere. That’s why I don’t trust people easily, even if I can read some of them like a book.”

“You trust me, yet I’m immune to your powers.”

“That’s different. I’ve known you a long time. Is there a reason I shouldn’t trust you?”

“No, of course not. I just don’t want things to be weird between us after last night.”

Cate frowned. “Why would they be? All we did was fall asleep together. Nothing happened – not that it would.”

“Right. Now that would be weird.”

Cate started sprinkling some kind of powder over the blank pages.

“What’s that?”

“It can make the invisible visible again. Ian and I made it together when I was little. He was the cool big brother and let me play around with herbs and potions in his lab. Well, up until I almost blew the place to hell.”

Jason laughed. “Yeah, I remember hearing about that.”

“Poor Ian. Mum and Dad really laid into him because of it, but he was never angry at me.”

“You’re his baby sister — all he did was spoil you rotten.”

“Yeah, Steve was always a bit stricter, but he used to let me hang out with him a lot. Too bad I didn’t grow up into the lady he wanted me to be.”

“You’re a lady, whether you like it or not.”

“You know I hate being called that!”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good, because I’m not. I’m an arse-kicking bitch, and you’d do well to remember that.”

Jason gave her a mock salute. “Aye, my lady.”

Cate rolled her eyes and looked back down at the book, as words slowly began to appear on the pages. “Look, it’s working.”

Turning the page over, more words began to materialise. “That date’s around the time the second Enforcer went missing. Come on, let’s go and read it.”

They went into the living room, where they settled down on the settee and started reading through the witch’s journal.

Cate read aloud. “Tia Alexander came again today. She’s a good actress, but my spies have already told me she’s an Enforcer. I can tell they haven’t risked sending in a Denai – not yet. Phelps will be here tonight and she requires another blood sacrifice. The Enforcer will serve Raven well.”

“Well, at least now we know what happened to her,” he commented. “Anything about the drug?”

“Nothing so far.”

They carried on scouring through the book for the next half an hour, but found no mention of the drug, or any clue as to where Bethany might have run off to.

“I have an idea — I can use this to trace Bethany. It’s magically linked to her, so I should be able to use it to focus my senses on.” She closed the book and rose, going over to the permanent spell circle made out of pure Silveron she had engraved on the floor. It featured a Denai star on its outer edge.

“You want to use a piece of evidence in a spell? What if something goes wrong and it gets destroyed?” Jason asked, looking concerned. “Or worse, what if Bethany attacks you?”

“I’ll be safe inside the spell circle.” She pulled off her weapons belt and tossed it onto the armchair.

Stepping into it, Cate waved her hand as she cast protective wards and lit several coloured candles which would add their energy to her working. Normally, she wore her formal robes during spell working, but she didn’t have time to change.

Cate looked over at Jason, nervously hovering on the other side of the room and sighed. “Would you relax? I can’t concentrate,” she said. “Maybe you should go back to the compound with the rest of the team.”

“And leave you alone? Not bloody likely!”

“This over-protectiveness thing of yours is getting really annoying.”

“Can you blame me after everything that’s been happening lately?”

“Goddess, I’ll get a new partner if this keeps up,” she muttered.

“Ha, having a new partner would drive you up the wall, especially if you were being constantly bombarded by their emotions.”

“That’s if you don’t drive me up there first. Now shush, I need to focus.”