Hectic (Arcane Mage Series Book 2) Page 5

Right. Yes. Bad Charisma. Bad Theo. Bad sex with his abs.

  Wait, that wasn't right.

  Theo was bad at sex.

  Okay, no, that wasn't true either. We may have been inexperienced when we'd been together and no more than kids, but he sure as hell knew how to get my body to sing to his tune.

  Nooooo, bad. Bad. Bad Charisma. Abort. Abort. Abort.

  Somebody fucking save me from myself.

  Clearly, I was sleep-deprived and decaffeinated. Nothing a shit ton of coffee wouldn't fix. And maybe some distance from him. But, in my defense, it was just playing dirty to parade around naked and freshly showered when I hadn't had the chance to wake up yet. Without thinking, I drank the coffee I’d poured hoping the caffeine would hit and save me from myself.

  It was all his fault. He was playing dirty. I was only so strong, and his newly acquired hotter-than-sin body had caught me unprepared.

  By the time Theo stepped out of the bathroom again, I'd already managed to talk my horny brain out of making stupid decisions and had poured him a new cup of coffee.

  See? I could play nice, too.

  I kinda felt like I owed him coffee for the free show, anyway.

  "You're awake," he remarked, startled.

  Have been for a while, thanks for throwing my libido into hyperdrive, I mentally answered. Although, what I actually said was: "Yes. Here, coffee." As I thrust the full mug in his direction.

  Surprise lit up Theo's eyes as he accepted the mug and downed it in one big gulp.

  Huh, we're gonna need more coffee.

  Curiosity burned at me, making me almost giddy when coupled with the caffeine now running through my bloodstream. I may have no business being nosy, but it wasn't like I actually had anything to do with my time anyway until I was discharged, and Theo was acting weird. Well, weirder.

  Something was up and I wanted to know what.

  Nothing would distract me more from my own problems than focusing on somebody else's. And while it was unfortunate that the someone else just happened to be my ex, I was all out of options and in desperate need of a distraction or two.

  “So, what's going on? You're being cagey.” Subtle, I was not.

  Theo's eyes snapped to mine, wide from the surprise of having me actually address him and start a conversation for once, and I couldn't blame him. But puzzles were my jam and if it had anything to do with me, I wanted, no, I needed to know.

  Before answering me, Theo put my now empty tray by the window, sat down, and sighed. It was so weird to see the change in him. While before he'd looked like pure sex walking, now he just seemed...exhausted. Older. Beaten. He aged ten years in the blink of an eye. I was stepping out of the bed and reaching out to comfort him before I even knew what the fuck I was doing.

  “Hey, what's going on? What happened? Why haven't you been sleeping?”

  Theo stared down at his hands, his head hung low, as he said, “It's Annie. I... I haven't heard from her in weeks. Around the same time your apartment blew up, she just kind of... vanished. Nobody has heard from her, nobody has even seen her. And while Annie would sometimes go a few days without being in touch with us, especially when on vacation from the Academy like now, she's never been quiet this long. I've had people looking for her in all the places she usually goes to, but so far, nothing. I'm starting to worry maybe something happened." He looked at me then, his eyes full of anguish and desperation. “Was—” he gulped “—was Annie in your apartment when it happened? Was she staying with you? Did she...” Theo trailed off, as if unable to even finish the thought.

  “No, there was nobody in my apartment. Annie wasn't there, Theo." My words were soft, even if inside I was waging a war with myself.

  Should I tell him the truth? It wouldn't bring him any relief, but it might put him out of his misery. Knowing, even if the news were awful, was better than just wondering.

  I opened my mouth to just come clean, just tell him, but before I could, there was a knock on the door and then the Gandy look-alike Healer stepped inside.

  Moment broken, I let my hand drop from Theo's shoulder where I hadn't even realized it had been and stepped away.

  I didn't know whether to be thankful for the interruption or not. I did know I had to talk to Christian soon and convince him to tell at least some of the truth to the Soulbinders. Or release the information into the wild—parts of it—and wait for it to reach them.

  But something had to give, and it had to happen fast.

  8

  Charisma

  The Healer made quick work of checking my vitals, magically assessing me, and then leaving the room after he told me what to watch out for (the usual: dizziness, headaches) and to come back in a week for a check-up so he could reassess me and keep tabs on my magic, or lack thereof.

  Not that I had any intention of coming back, but he didn’t need to know that.

  And then he just left me alone in the hospital room with Theo and the tension following his revelation.

  You know, because things weren’t complicated enough already.

  I should’ve just kept my damn trap shut and not asked him the question, but I was weak and curious, and I was an idiot.

  I stared at Theo from my hospital bed, wondering what I could say or do to make things better for him, to make things easier, but nothing came to mind. All the things I could think of were just pretty lies, and they’d do nothing but hurt him worse, especially when he finally found out the truth. Besides, Theo’s rare Soulbinder ability allowed him to see auras, which meant odds were he would be able to catch me lying. So it would do more damage than good.

  “Look, Char, I—” The door opened and Theo’s words were cut off. Relieved, I looked at the door that kept saving my ass today and my relief turned into elation when Blaze stepped inside.

  I held my breath. I hadn't seen him since... well, since before everything had gone up in flames. He looked as hot as ever; hell, maybe even hotter. His blond hair was styled in the usual mohawk, and the permanent scowl on his face was even scarier than it normally was. But his eyes... his gorgeous green eyes held worry, and they softened just a little bit when he saw me.

  My heart started to salsa before my brain had even caught up.

  Blaze crossed the room towards me in two strides and gave me a light, tender kiss that had me tingling all the way to my toes. His arms tightened around me, squeezing the breath from my lungs, but just as quickly, he released me.

  Or, I should say, he tried to. I didn't let him, tightening my arms around him and just taking the time to breathe him in.

  I hadn't realized how much I needed the contact until he'd offered it, but there was no way I was going to let it pass. My relationship with the Futhark heir may be all sorts of complicated, but I'd like to believe that if nothing else, he'd become a friend of sorts.

  "You scared the crap out of me, Little Spitfire," Blaze said, lowering his head so his forehead touched mine as if he needed the physical contact to reassure himself I was okay just as much as I needed him to ground me.

  Who knew Blaze Futhark had it in him to be so damn sweet? I wanted to throw him in my coffee and drink him up.

  Except, maybe not, ‘cause that would be weird.

  Or, you know, weirder. Plus, the last time coffee was between Blaze and me, I'd ended up with small burns and then he'd eaten me out like his life depended on it.

  Actually, come to think of it, maybe I should involve coffee.

  A fake cough had me jumping away from Blaze as if my ass had been set on fire and looking up to find a frowning Theo looking at us.

  Oh fuck me, I'd forgotten he was there.

  Nothing said awkward like having your ex in the room while you were clinging to the guy who you were maybe seeing.

  Well, maybe if we'd been caught having sex; that would've been even more awkward but that was beside the point right now.

  Except… the thought of Theo watching, preferably tied to a chair as punishment, as Blaze fucked me senseless had all kinds of mer
it. Goddess, was it hot in here? Was I blushing? Could they see what I saw inside my head? Because the image kept playing in my mind and fuck me, it was hot. I could reverse cowgirl the hell out of Blaze while Theo watched, unable to touch me, unable to touch himself, unable to look away...

  "Erh. Blaze, you remember Theo, right?" I asked, in an attempt to break the big ass tension in the room. If I’d thought things had been tense and awkward before, it didn’t hold a candle to how stifling things were right now.

  One day I was going to be super cool and not get caught in awkward situations; one day I was going to be able to brush off the most random shit and not let it affect me. But today was not that day.

  Blaze's usual scowl came back in the blink of an eye, all the softness he'd shown me gone, just like that, and he turned to stare down at Theo, who had stood up sometime during my reunion with Blaze. Except, they were pretty much the same height, so all that truly happened was that he was basically staring Theo in the eye. I took a moment to... strategically analyze the differences between them—and the similarities.

  Where Blaze was all hot, hard edges and exuded that bad boy, underground dungeon fighter vibe like it was second nature, Theo had the boy next door look down to an art form, especially now that his hair and beard were once again trimmed and under control.

  Unfortunately—or fortunately—they were both hot. And currently pissed the fuck off, although only the Goddess only knew why.

  The temperature in the room started to lower and the fog I usually associated with Theo using his powers started to appear.

  Oh shit. This was not good. Not good at all.

  I didn't realize they were mortal fucking enemies. Like, I always knew there was no good blood between the Futharks and the Soulbinders, but they'd always been kind of civil in school. This seemed excessive.

  Before things could escalate, I threw myself between them. I knew it was a dumbass idea, but since I still couldn't feel my stupid magic, let alone access it, it was my only choice.

  "Woah, woah. Down, boys. What the hell is going on?" I spread my arms out like me forcing some distance between them would prevent the magical battle from happening. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Theo? Get your spirits under control, for fuck's sake! This is a hospital!" I hissed at him.

  Theo clenched his jaw even more but closed his eyes and focused on his breathing until it evened out. The fog disappeared and I was finally able to breathe easy again.

  "Now, can anyone tell me what the fuck is going on?" I demanded.

  Theo's eyes snapped open. "Nothing," he said, before turning away from me and pacing the room. I chanced a look at Blaze, only now noticing my hand was still sprawled on his chest.

  Oops.

  I started to lower my hand, but Blaze just kind of snuck up with his own and kidnapped it so we now held hands.

  The man was weird.

  "Sorry, Little Spitfire, but don't worry about it. Here, I came bearing gifts." Blaze smiled at me before he pulled a backpack I hadn't even noticed he was wearing and handed it to me.

  I cocked my head to the side for a second before I realized what the possible contents might be and I lunged for the backpack like my life depended on it.

  "Clothes! You brought me clothes, didn't you? Please tell me they're clothes." Instead of waiting for his answer, I dumped the backpack onto the bed and opened it, shaking it so all the contents fell out.

  I screeched in joy when I saw jeans, a couple of my own geeky shirts, and a shiny new cellphone.

  I whipped my head up in shock. "A phone? You got me a phone?"

  Blaze smiled. "Well, how else was I going to get ahold of you?" His smile faded, "There was nothing we could do about your MET though, I'm sorry."

  I froze.

  Fuck. Fuckity fuck.

  It hadn't even occurred to me. The explosion, the fire, my MET... shit. I was going to have to develop a new one, but I didn't even have the magic anymore to be able to do it. It was no use developing a brand new program if I couldn’t insert it into the damn hardware.

  I didn't even realize I was crying until Blaze hugged me again.

  "Hey, it's okay." He awkwardly rubbed my back. "You're a badass Magical Engineer, I'm sure you'll develop an even more awesome MET in no time and then you can fake stab me with a fire sword again. I'll even give you one free attack."

  I snorted through my tears. "If anything, you're the one who needs the advantage."

  "That’s my girl."

  Wait. His girl? I looked up at him from his shirt.

  Did he really mean that? Were we a thing? I know we slept together but... did he want more from me? And...did I want more from him?

  "How do you have her clothes?" Theo asked, he had one of my shirts in his hand, and both Blaze and I tensed at his question.

  The green shirt had a sloth lying down on a tree branch as she smiled at me and I knew it would have the words 'Whatever. Just do it later' written around it. I was fairly sure that was one of the shirts I'd left behind at AMIA's headquarters the last time I'd ended up staying there while we were working on catching the rebels. But Theo couldn't know about that.

  He may be one of the Arcane heirs, but that didn't make him privy to who actually worked for AMIA and who didn't. He clearly didn’t even know his sister had been an agent.

  Blaze saved me from having to come up with a lie, though. Thank the Goddess because I was crap at lying. "She left it at my place," he said, raising an eyebrow at Theo with an evil smirk on his face I'd never seen before. "Problem?"

  Oh for fuck's sake. I took it all back.

  Fucking male posturing.

  "Why don't you just pee on me to mark your territory?" I glared at Blaze, stepping away from him and putting some much-needed distance between us.

  Blake just shrugged. "Maybe next time I have you naked, I will."

  Before I could say oh fuck, Theo had Blaze pinned against the wall of the room, his hand on Blaze's neck, while he gripped his Rosary-like MET with the other hand so tight, the beads were probably stuck to his palm. If I thought the room had been cold and foggy before, that was nothing compared to how it was right now.

  I watched in shock as ghosts started to take form in the room.

  Holy shit. I'd never seen Theo lose control like that. Not even when we were twelve and someone had killed his dog.

  "Stop!" I yelled, rushing to them to try to put an end to this madness.

  But I was too late.

  9

  Blaze

  My eyes widened as the Soulbinder bastard became fucking possessed and charged at me with a speed I had not expected.

  Pain made me wince.

  My head slammed against the wall and the Soulbinder fucker pinned me to it, squeezing my throat.

  He cut off my air supply, and I tried to struggle against him to cut him loose.

  What the hell?

  Without wasting time thinking about it, I activated my shield rune to make sure the jackass wouldn't actually kill me and prepared to activate one of my attack runes.

  Should I shock the living shit out of him or just stab him and cut him to pieces while he screamed?

  He had no idea who he was messing with. I was a Futhark; I'd been raised in violence and thrived on it. No spoiled little coward who hadn’t had the guts to stand up for the woman he claimed to love was going to get the better of me.

  Not now, not ever.

  My shield rune activated and the pressure on my neck relieved a little bit, just enough for me to be able to breathe again.

  Oh, the Soulbinder fucker was going to pay for it, I'd make sure of it.

  "You will show Charisma respect!" Theodore growled through gritted teeth, every word that came out of his mouth barely discernible.

  Who knew the coward had it in him?

  "Theo! Stop! What are you doing?" Charisma yelled, but she went ignored by the both of us– we were too far gone in our rage to listen to reason.

  I activated a rune that brought one of my d
aggers into existence just as the room went from cold to fucking freezing. Fog grew around us, making it hard to see.

  So, this is the famous Soulbinder power. I wonder if he manifested ghosts or whatever the fuck to try to get rid of me.

  Except, I was not going to make this easy for him.

  The minute I felt the physical weight of the dagger in my hand, I raised it to his throat, just barely nicking a line on it; not enough to kill him—yet—but enough for him to feel even through his anger.

  He wanted to call me out on being disrespectful to her? Him?

  "Yeah. What, like you did when you discarded her like yesterday’s trash?" I taunted.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed, jaw clenched.

  Theodore's face was as red as his hair as he growled once again, and then I felt him move and saw his fist coming right at my face at the same time he tried to squeeze my neck through my shield.

  “Oh, I know more than you think, you piece of shit.”

  I smirked before I activated the shock rune, which would electrify anyone who touched me. Just another layer of protection against idiots who thought they were too good to fight fair.

  "Theo! Blaze! Stop this right the fuck now!"

  Too late, I realized what Charisma was doing, and I couldn't stop her in time.

  Charisma approached us on stomping feet and physically separated us by grabbing onto Theodore and yanking him the fuck off me right when my shock rune activated. Except, the minute she stepped in the space between us, she brushed against me and she got hit by the full force of my power.

  No!

  I watched in shock and panic as Charisma started to spasm on her way down to the floor, like a movie going in slow motion.

  My heart skipped a beat, then stopped altogether.

  She collapsed.

  Cursing, I deactivated my rune and lunged to catch her, but Theo was faster, and he already had her in his arms before I could touch her.

  That fucker.

  "What did you do to her?" Theo spat the question at me while Charisma convulsed in his arms.