Chapter Sixty-Three
Allie
My amusement over Nick’s—no Nikolai’s—confusion was probably the only thing that was preventing me from panicking. Seriously, the guy could not understand why I wasn’t more grateful to him. While I was glad I wasn’t being tortured and killed, I wasn’t too happy about being treated like his property, and the threat of training sounded really bad to me.
“I said, come here,” Nikolai said through clenched teeth.
This was his second time telling me, and I was pretty sure he was going to hurt me if I didn’t obey or distract him.
“Dylan is going to kill you when he finds out about this,” I told Nikolai as I edged toward the stairs.
Marcos snorted. “That’s been taken care of already. The police will claim they found your body tomorrow, and your warlock won’t be able to do anything but mourn your death and insist that the police keep looking for your killer.”
Now, I was really confused. “So, you plan to kill me?” I asked, looking at Nikolai as I continued to take tiny steps back.
“Of course not.” Nikolai let out an exasperated huff. “We just found a succubus who looks enough like you to pass for you. After we leave here, we’ll carve her up so badly, the police will assume it’s you. No big deal.”
“No big deal?” I screeched. “You are talking about killing someone, and you say that’s no big deal.”
“I need to kill her, anyway, to complete the ritual,” Nikolai said with a pout.
“Someone will report her missing, so why would they assume she’s me?” I asked. The longer I kept them talking about their plans, the better. This was like one of those crazy superhero movies where the bad guys kept bragging about their big plan. I’d always laughed at that part of the film, but maybe evil people really did want to explain their whole plan.
“She has no one who’ll be looking for her. Her employer will eventually report her missing, but that will be long after her body is found with all of your personal effects. Life will go on without you,” Nikolai continued with a serene smile. “I’m sure it’ll be hard for Dylan at first. Maybe I’ll call him after we relocate to help him get through it all. We’ll probably even become better friends, but eventually, we’ll drift apart. He’ll find a nice witch to settle down with. I’ll tell him how much you’d want him to find happiness to encourage him to move on.”
I figured I’d edged as close to the stairs as I could before one of them realized I was about to make a break for it. Reaching to my side, I snatched the lamp off the table and tossed it at Marcos’ head before I turned and ran up the stairs. I made it almost to the top before Nikolai tackled me, knocking the breath out of me, and possibly breaking some ribs. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t draw in enough air to even get out a tiny squeak.
Nikolai pulled me to my feet by my hair and laughed. “You know, I was wondering when you were going to try that. I’m actually surprised you waited so long. Nice touch, throwing the lamp at the incubus.”
My ribs ached when I breathed, especially with one of Nikolai’s arms wrapped tightly around me, just under my breasts. “Let me go,” I demanded, struggling to free myself.
Nikolai used his hold on my hair to jerk my head to the side roughly. He was still behind me when I felt his fangs sink painfully into my throat. The door at the top of the stairs flew open, and Nikolai’s fangs came out of my throat. His hand remained fisted in my hair as he awkwardly dragged me down the stairs.
Dylan and Trevor stalked through the doorway, moving closer slowly.
“Let her go, Nick!” Dylan demanded, never taking his eyes off him. It was simultaneously a relief and terrifying to see Dylan standing there. I was relieved because I thought I’d never see him again, but I was terrified of what could happen to him. I already knew Nikolai had a dampening spell on the house, meaning Dylan’s magic was nearly as useless mine.
Nikolai let out a sad sigh. “I’m sorry you found me, Dylan.”
“I’ll bet you are,” Dylan said with a snort. “This probably ruins your plans.”
Nikolai’s tight grip on my hair made it impossible to turn to see him, but the pressure on my hair increased, so I was guessing he’d shrugged. “I really don’t want to kill you. If I could have found a way to keep you as a friend, I would have.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” Trevor added.
Marcos laughed. “What are you going to do, warlock?” he taunted. “While the vampires may not possess much in the way of magic, they are stronger, and that’s all that matters down here. You aren’t going to be able to save yourselves with a spell.”
“Try to avoid killing Dylan,” Nikolai said, sounding thoughtful. “There’s no reason why I can’t keep two pets.”
Dylan and Trevor moved closer to us, probably hoping for an opportunity to jump on Nikolai. Nikolai’s hold on my hair and ribs loosened as he tried to readjust me. That gave me the opportunity I needed. I spun and slammed my open palm against his nose, cringing slightly when I heard the crunch of bone and cartilage. Nikolai howled in pain and rage as I reached forward to try to hit his eyes. He shoved me to the side with enough force to knock me to the ground. I fought not to cry out when my knee made contact with the hard floor, because Dylan had jumped on Nikolai, and I didn’t want to distract him. Marcos was right about vampires being stronger. My only hope was that, like many vampires, Nikolai thought he could rely solely on strength and had very little in the way of fighting skills.
“If I wasn’t getting paid so much, I’d kill you while he’s distracted,” Marcos hissed as he approached me. My knee hurt so much I was having a really hard time getting to my feet. Right before Marcos reached me, Trevor’s fist made contact with his face. Marcos—slimy bastard that he is—pulled a knife and lunged at Trevor. Grabbing a large piece of broken glass from the lamp, I shoved it into the back of Marcos’ knee.
“Fucking bitch!” Marcos shouted at me. That distraction was enough to allow Trevor to knock the knife out of his hand. Figuring Trevor could easily handle Marcos with the knife out of the equation, I dragged myself toward the knife, tears streaming down my face from the pain in my knee and ribs.
Dylan was still standing and basically holding his own against Nikolai, but the side of his face was bruised where Nikolai had landed a punch, and if his labored breathing was any indication, Nikolai had hit him in the ribs at some point. Dylan was definitely a better fighter, but Nikolai’s strength was wearing him down. Struggling to my feet, I moved toward Nikolai, clutching the knife, surprised he didn’t turn toward me with the amount of noise I was making. Dylan saw me and seemed to be doing his best to keep Nikolai distracted.
I only hesitated for a moment. In that moment, I was tempted to give Nikolai a chance to give up, but I knew he’d hurt me to disarm me. There was only one way for this to end. Lunging forward, I put all of my weight into shoving the knife into Nikolai’s back where I was hoping his heart was. I continued to fall forward through the ash that had once been Nikolai’s body. If it weren’t for Dylan’s quick reaction time, I’d have fallen on the floor again.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and I could only nod. As the events of the day came together, black spots filled my vision. In the distance, I heard the echoes of voices around me, and then there was nothing.
Epilogue
Dylan
“If she’s fine, then why the hell hasn’t she woken up?” I asked the poor nurse who’d been assigned to Allie. Even knowing I was being an asshole, I couldn’t help it. Allie had been unconscious for most of the last six hours. She’d come to when they were getting ready to put her knee cap back in place, and they’d quickly checked to see if she had a head injury before casting a sedation spell—one that should have lasted only an hour.
“Her succubus genetics are the reason she’s sleeping so long,” the nurse said calmly. My ranting didn’t affect her at all, which is probably why she’d been assigned to Allie’s room in the first place.
“I’m fine,”
Allie said in a weak, tired voice. “Is Trevor okay?”
I leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead, feeling beyond grateful that she was finally awake. “He’s fine,” I assured her. “Marcos is in police custody, and the police managed to rescue the succubus they were going to kill last night.”
“Is she okay?” Allie asked.
“She’s pretty shaken up, but they hadn’t hurt her at all,” I told her, glad that was true.
“I killed Nick,” she said, and a shudder ran through her body.
“Yes, you did. You probably saved my life.”
“Guess I’m kind of a badass,” she said, still sounding sleepy.
“My badass witch,” I said with a smile. “You sound exhausted.”
“Succubi sleep while they recover from injuries,” she murmured around a yawn. “Can you stop yelling at my nurse, so I can rest and heal?”
“I’ll try,” I answered honestly. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“Imagine how I felt,” she said with a sleepy chuckle. “I’m just glad you found me. For a little while, I was afraid you’d really think I was dead.”
“It might have been easier if we were already married,” I added. “Once our magic is officially bound, we can find each other anywhere."
“Is that really how you want to ask me to marry you?” she asked. “First, you mess up asking me to move in with you. Now, you mess up asking me to marry you. Seriously, Dylan Hunt, what am I going to do with you?”
“Marry me?” I suggested with what I hoped was an endearing smile.
She let out a weak laugh. “Fine, I’ll marry you if you promise to let me get some sleep.”
“Now, you’ll just claim you agreed under duress,” I teased.
“That is your preferred method for getting me to agree,” she said around a yawn. “I love you, Dylan.”
“I love you, too,” I said.
As I watched her drift off to sleep, I felt her magic wrap around my body, binding me to her. No, it was in that moment that I realized I’d been bound to Alana Talbot from the moment I saw her. She was my witch—my other half—the thing I always feared would weaken me, but in reality made me stronger.
Shamelessly Spellbound
Trevor
I never thought I’d see the day when my best friend, Dylan, would get married. Allie was perfect for him, and I was happy for them. Not that anyone one would believe that if they looked at me today. Sitting at the elaborate celebration for the happy couple—both good friends of mine—I should be having fun. At the very least, I should be checking out the single witches in attendance. Several had already tried to get my attention. Instead, all I’d done for the last two hours was sit at a table nursing a drink.
Looking across the room, I saw Melina for the first time in six months. After rescuing Allie from a serial killer vampire, I’d decided to take everyone’s advice and move on. Unfortunately, Melina Blackwood was an obsession that haunted my dreams. I’d been with other witches in the last six months, but none of them made me forget her, and some had even commented on my distraction.
I knew she felt my eyes on her by the way she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Melina said she didn’t want me. She’d told me that over and over again. In fact, she’d made it clear she wasn’t looking for a relationship of any sort. Still, seeing her discomfort made me think she was lying—to me and to herself. Melina might not like it, but she wanted me as much as I wanted her, and I was done playing this stupid game with her.
Stalking across the beautifully landscaped garden, I ignored Dylan’s glare. I know he’d hoped Melina was out of my system for good, because Dylan believed she was just one of many infatuations. An unfortunate side effect of my family’s heritage was that I tended to think each witch I met was the one. At least, that’s how I’d felt before Melina. She was different, and I hadn’t felt that way about a woman since the moment I’d laid eyes on Melina. She was it. Melina was my witch. She just didn’t know it yet, but that was about to change.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Sinfully Spellbound. I hope you enjoyed the first book in my new Spells That Bind series. I’ve had a lot of fun creating this new world and have many stories in mind. If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to write a review and/or leave a star rating. Trevor and Melina’s story, Shamelessly Spellbound, will be available October 2, 2016. You will finally get to meet Melina’s familiar, Mr. Whiskers, as well as the cast of Night High.
About The Author
Cassandra Lawson lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and her two youngest children. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good book.