Magic Hunter (The Rover series Book 4) Read online

  “So what happens now?” I asked Helix.

  “Now you wait here, and I bring the official contract with me, along with Melinda. She will have to sign for her half of it, of course. Other than that, there will be no further contact with her, or I terminate the contract and you two can find yourself someone else.”

  “I get it. If you need to return again with the real contract, what is that?” I pointed to the table and the single sheet of paper he’d brought out.

  He placed a fountain pen on top and slid it across the table. “This is a contract that ensures you won’t try to harm Melinda in anyway while she’s here.”

  I looked at Fin as I pulled the paper closer. “Does that really work?”

  “Yes, our magic will ensure it. We’ll be incapable of harming her.”

  I read the text and then pushed it back. “Nope, not signing it unless it states she won’t harm us in return. Otherwise, she could come in here, open fire, and we’d be powerless to stop her.”

  Helix took the paper, waved his hand over it, then gave it back. “Acceptable now?”

  I noted that it didn’t have any provision for Helix trying to hurt us, but I suspected if he wanted that we’d be dead already. He seemed like the type to kill them fast and bury the bodies where no one would ever find them.

  We both signed and I shoved the paper toward him. “There. We’ve jumped through your hoops. Now get her here.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  HELIX BLINKED OUT OF existence.

  I stared at the spot he’d previously been occupying and turned to Fin. “That was so cool. Can you do that?”

  He frowned severely at the spot. “No, I can’t.”

  “I didn’t know fae could do things like that. Why don’t I have teleporting abilities?”

  He shook his head, but a small smile played on his lips. “You might when you’re older. It takes time to grow into special abilities.”

  I made a face at him but settled back into the couch to wait. “I wonder how long it’ll take him to come back.”

  Fin shrugged. “It depends on whether he can teleport others with him. If so, I suspect fast, if not, then as long as it takes for them to drive from where the woman is hiding out.”

  What other little tricks did Helix have up his sleeve? Since the moment we met I knew we’d need to keep an eye on him, but with this new little nugget of info we’d need to be extra wary. If he could teleport himself or anyone else anywhere, it meant he would be a hard man to escape if necessary.

  Fin sat beside me, tense, his hands fisted on his knee, his entire body rigid with tension. Hell, he might be meeting the sister he’d been searching for. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

  Nothing else needed to be said.

  A knock at the door caught both our attention. “If he disappeared like that, why...”

  The corner of Fin’s lip curled up. “The wards. He can’t transport into them, but he can transport out. After all, they are meant to keep things away not contained.”

  I shoved at his shoulder. “Go open the door for him.”

  Fin hopped up, and opened the door to usher Helix back inside. But he entered alone. Fin’s shoulders dropped as he stared out into the empty hallway then calmly closed the door.

  Helix took his seat and produced a contract. “Sign first, and then she’ll be here.”

  When Fin opened his mouth to argue, I pasted my fingers over his lips. “We’ll sign and get this thing on the road.”

  A sharp pinch hit my middle finger and I jerked away. The bastard bit me. While glaring, he pulled the paperwork toward him, read every single word two times, and them signed his name on the bottom.

  “I don’t appreciate the break in protocol having me sign this first,” he said.

  Helix grabbed the contract and set it back on his side of the table. “Your notes on my customer service are appreciated. Wait one minute, and I’ll return with her.”

  He disappeared again.

  I gripped Fin’s hand tighter. There was nothing that could prepare him for a moment like this. Years he’d been searching for her and not finding her, and she was just about to walk in our front door. Hopefully.

  I was only eighty-five percent certain Melinda was Sol. It wasn’t if I’d had any real interactions with the woman. Would Fin recognize her? It had been a long time since they’d been in each other’s presence.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, trying to ease the tension in him, to stop the ache I could feel through our bond.

  He shook his head. “I can’t. Not right now. But I will one day.”

  A familiar knock came a few moments later and we both froze. My heart beat harder from sheer nerves. I wanted this for him. I wanted him to have some piece of his family back.

  Another knock sounded as we sat there staring at the door.

  I tugged him to his feet and led him to the door. “Come on, no matter what happens next, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

  He gave me a clipped nod and I opened the door. On the other side stood Helix and the woman I knew as Melinda. She wore her short black hair in a braid with a tail that curled around the side of her neck. No sunglasses. Tonight, she’d dressed down in jeans, a blue t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

  I waved them both inside, nudging Fin a little behind me, his hand still clutched in mine. Helix entered first, his posture and level of alertness double what it had been before.

  “We didn’t suddenly set up rocket launchers in the five minutes you’ve been gone,” I said.

  He cut me a glare, but I turned to Melinda. “It’s nice to see you again. Thank you for changing your mind.”

  Her eyes were on Fin whose hand had gone slack in mine.

  “Sol,” he breathed.

  She stiffened as if he’d struck her. “I go by Melinda now.”

  Fin dropped to his knees in front of her, his hand dragged from mine. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  I placed my hands on his shoulders, trying to lend him some of my strength. All the while, a chaos of emotion beat at the bond within my chest. I could barely breathe around the onslaught. Tears pooled at the corner of my eyes at the intensity, the pain, so I glared at the ceiling until they cleared.

  When she spoke again her voice had thawed, but only a tiny bit. “I came here to conduct business. Let’s get on with it, please.”

  She turned and joined Helix on the couch.

  Fin dragged himself off the floor and slunk behind me over to the couches, each step jarring me to as if we were connected through his pain and heavy confusion. We took our seats, and I kept half my attention on Fin and half on the pair on the other side of the table.

  “This is awkward,” I said, trying to break the tension.

  Helix chuckled and earned himself a glare from Melinda.

  Fin shifted forward on the couch and my heart broke at the look in his eyes. “Sol—Melinda—what happened to you? Where have you been? If you weren’t being held captive, why didn’t you come home?”

  Her glare could cut ice. “Home? Where it’s so very safe? I wasn’t the only one who’d been captured or killed there, am I?’

  His back went rigid and I rubbed my hand up his spine trying to ease him, knowing I couldn’t do a damn thing to help with this pain.

  “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry,” Fin whispered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you.”

  He hung his head and stupid tears leaked down my cheeks. I forced myself not to swipe them away in anger. They were partly for him and everything he had endured during Sol’s absence.

  Both of them had suffered and both of them seemed to blame Fin for that suffering when they should be putting that blame on Esteban’s crazy ass shoulders.

  “How about we put a pause on this discussion and take care of what we came here to do? Afterward, maybe you guys can hug it out?” I said, looking to Helix for support.

  His jaw was set as tight as Fin’s.

  The seconds o
f silence stretched, and I itched with the need to move or to speak. I waited, hoping one of them might say something useful.

  When no one did, I shoved off the couch and poured myself a drink. If no one was going to talk, or act like adults, then I wasn’t going to endure the emotion duress sober.

  “You’re drinking?” Melinda asked after my first sip of straight vodka, her tone bordering between horrified and stupefied.

  “Yup,” I said, taking another sip. “At least until we get on with things. I don’t know if you two are mated or not, but with Fin and my bond, I’ve started feeling all the things he feels.” I took another long draw of the clear liquid. “And as you can imagine, that’s super fun right now.”

  She didn’t offer anything by way of explanation for Helix and their association. They appeared close but there wasn’t the same overt sexual tension Fin and I shared when we got within two feet of each other. Maybe I’d read their situation wrong.

  Whatever their relationship, Helix cared for her.

  I took another drink and wandered back to my spot beside Fin on the couch. I nudged the contract toward her. “You’re the one who came to us this time. While I appreciate how difficult that was, and the sacrifice you are making to help us, we can at least get things rolling by signing the contract.”

  She picked up the pen. “Of course. You’re right.”

  With a flourish she signed, folded up the paper, and handed it to Helix along with the pen.

  I glanced between them. “What now? Does it happen automatically, or...”

  Fin spoke, seeming to shake his attention back to me. “No, it involves an exchange of power, by touching or something similar.”

  “How do you not know about magical contracts?” Melinda asked me. “I can see magic pooling around you like a crack in the pavement.”

  “I’m a late bloomer, I guess. It’s a long story, really. Maybe I’ll share it sometime if I’m alive in a few weeks.”

  She flinched but I didn’t have it in me to feel bad, especially with Fin’s anguish pouring through me like a thick black sludge.

  We sat in silence, queueing up questions in our minds that no one would risk asking.

  Finally, Fin asked, “What happened to you?”

  “Before or after he took me?” Melinda whispered.

  A fissure of pain shot through me. I rubbed at my chest and sipped my drink, wondering if I’d ever be able to turn this connection off.

  “He took me and forced me to use my magic to help him trap others and steal their power. He used me, draining me every day to further his own goals. Then one day I pretended to be tapped when I wasn’t and escaped. I spent what felt like ages running from place to place, hiding and trying to survive. And then I slowly worked myself up to use my abilities in the Night Market and by word of mouth my business grew. Since then, I’ve stayed under the radar and off the grid. Helix is the only one who ever knows where I am at any given time. He’s my best friend and protector.” She slid her gaze to mine. “Not my mate.”

  Her eyes glowed the same blue as her brother’s did when he became emotional.

  “What do you want me to say?” My temper flared. “I asked you for help and you used it as a way to come here and berate Fin, for what? Letting Esteban have you? Because he didn’t. If you came here to take care of business, then let’s do that, but if you came here for some kind of revenge...get it over with.”

  “Zoey.” Fin said my name with a snap.

  I glared his way and clunked my glass onto the coffee table. “Do not speak to me that way or we are going to have bigger problems than we already do.”

  “You don’t need to defend me.”

  I waved at Melinda. “Well, you’re sure as shit not doing it for yourself. I thought I’d lend a hand. If she blames you for what she endured then someone needs to correct things.”

  “Let me handle this,” he said.

  Fine. Fuck him and his ridiculous honor.

  I sat back, sipped my drink, and stared out at the skyline.

  “There are things you’re entitled to since our parent’s passing,” Fin said to Melinda. “Land, money, many possessions in the house. It’s yours to take and do with what you will.”

  She crossed her arms under her breasts and shook her head. “I don’t want anything from you. I thought I made it clear I don’t need anything. I’m only here for the same reason you two are—revenge. I’m tired of being scared all the time.”

  Revenge was something I could understand, and even support. “Then do the magic transfer thingy so we can get on with our plan and get out of your life, if that’s where you want us.”

  I couldn’t explain my hostile attitude toward her, but hated what this little meeting was doing to Fin.

  She leaned forward over the coffee table.

  “Do you know how this works?” she asked him.

  He angled to face her and nodded once, solemnly. I wished I could be the one to do the magical transfer so he wouldn’t have to endure another second in this room.

  I tensed when she reached across the table, her palms upward.

  When their hands met, I rocked back into the couch, scrambling to find an anchor in the chaos. The pain was like a sharp spike jabbing me in the chest, sucking the important bits out of me, until finally, the torture ended.

  Fin lay hunched over, and Melinda shook, vibrating with power next to Helix.

  She met my eyes. “I won’t let you down.”

  They disappeared in a flash of light. I had to swim through the waves of the pain back to myself long enough to try and block what shot down the bond from his limp body. I checked his pulse first and sighed in relief to find it solid and strong.

  “The least they could have done is help me carry you into the bedroom.” I came around to try and get him over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, but I couldn’t manage it from his awkward position on the couch and my head spinning from his reaction to the power drain.

  After several tries, I gave up and shifted his long legs up onto the couch. I squeezed between the cushions and his body to curl against his arm. In these situations, it helped being compact size.

  I lay my head on his chest and breathed in time with his steady heartbeat. If he didn’t wake up, Helix and Melinda were going to learn why those I hunted feared me so much.

  And why Esteban should as well.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I WOKE STIFF AND ACHING, curled face first into the couch cushions, Fin’s hard body caging me in on the other side.

  It took some maneuvering to throw my leg over the back of the couch and lift myself up and over to head to the bathroom. After a quick shower and clean up, I came back out to the living room to find Fin still sleeping. My stomach let out a long rumbling growl, so I decided to make breakfast.

  While I waited for him to wake up, I considered how intense the feelings were that I felt down this bond of ours. I suspected he tried to block the connection between us last night to save me from feeling how bad it was for him, but the pain of his magic being ripped away was too much for him to maintain the wall.

  I pulled out some eggs and cracked them in a pan with some onions and cheese. Once I had a plate full of fluffy scrambled eggs, I practically shoved my face in them to eat as fast as possible. It was like I hadn’t eaten in a week. Must be something to do with the magic. I hated how much I still didn’t know about everything.

  When I finished the entire plate of eggs and sipped a cup of coffee, I made another plate for Fin. He’d need his strength. It had been a rough couple of weeks for him physically.

  With a fresh cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and toast, I nudged him awake. He blinked his eyes open, the blue glow usually around his iris dulled to a soft sky blue. I smiled down at him and he let out a long groan.

  I tucked his hair away from his face. “Are you alright? Is there something I can do to help make you more comfortable?”

  He shook his head and pulled the blanket higher up his chest. “No, I
just need to rest while everything recharges. It’ll come back in a few days. Promise.”

  I lay my hand on his chest and focused my own ebbing and flowing power to heal him. The magic spread out under my touch but didn’t seem to help him.

  He pried my hands off him. “It won’t work, but thank you for trying.”

  I twisted around to grab the food and sat the plate on my lap to feed him. When he allowed me to, his eyes closed, his head supported on the arm of the couch, I melted a little bit more for him.

  “How do you feel?” he asked between bites.

  “Fine, I think. I woke up a little stiff but that was from sleeping on the couch. I can feel your pain, but it’s not affecting me like it is you.”

  He popped an eye open to study me. “My apologies for that. I tried to block it the best I could, but I don’t think I remember much after that first initial pull.”

  I fed him some more food. “Do you want to talk about what happened with Melinda?”

  “Not right this moment. More toast, please.”

  Lifting the toast to his lips, I glared even though he couldn’t see me. “Demanding, aren’t you? Men are such babies when their sick.”

  “I’m not sick—I’m incapacitated.”

  A little faster, I fed him the rest of the breakfast and helped him into the shower. Then I dried and brushed his hair and tucked him into the bed. Before I could escape back to the living room, he dragged me under the covers with him. We lay facing each other, noses close to touching. It felt good to see him this way, disarmed. Almost.

  “Are you really okay?” I asked.

  He nodded, his cheek rubbing along the back of his hand which he’d tucked under there for support. “I’m fine. I’ll be back to usual in a few days.”

  I ran my fingers through the damp hair at his temples, pushing it away from his forehead. “I think you’re really brave for doing that.”

  “You were going to do it, if they’d let you.”

  “Well, yes, but I was still scared as shit about it. While we’re sharing our feelings, you want to tell me the secret you’re still holding?”