Read A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12) Online

Authors: R.E. Butler

Tags: #vampire romance, #vampire coven, #wiccan were bear

A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12) (10 page)

BOOK: A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12)
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He dropped to one knee and lifted her foot,
undoing the thin strap of her heel.

“How would singing to make them happy have
helped that situation?”

She snorted. “Not the pure part of my power,
but the darker side.”

When her other heel was in his hand, he
looked up at her, his golden gaze searching. “Dark side?”

“Muse power, like most supernatural powers,
has both light and dark aspects. I can use my power to take away
negative emotions from people, so I can sing and clear out doubt
and fear and worry and sadness and allow happier emotions to take
their places. The dark side of that power would be to focus on the
negative emotions and amplify them. I could conceivably make a
person kill himself, or cause a person’s stress levels to go so
high from fear that he has a heart attack.”

They stripped and climbed into the shower. As
he lathered a bar of soap in his hands and rubbed his soapy fingers
over her shoulders, he asked, “Why wouldn’t you want to do that?
Why wouldn’t you want to save yourself?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“How?”

“The dark side of muse power is addictive. A
muse who taps into the darkness can get lost in it, unable to
control who falls under her power.”

“You worry you’ll lose yourself?”

“Or hurt someone I love.”

He cupped her chin and tilted her face until
she was looking into his eyes. “I would never let you lose
yourself. I will
always
find you.”

She settled her hands on his waist, rubbing
her thumbs along the front of his chiseled stomach. “I hope I never
have to even brush up against the darkness.”

“Me too, my heart.”

 

* * *

 

On Thursday night, Harmony stood offstage
with Mishka, Vex, Rage, her guards, and her bandmates. Mishka wore
a pair of black leather trousers that fit him like a second skin
and a black, silk dress shirt open at the neck. His hair, like
always, was caught back at the nape of his neck. She reached for
his hair and slowly tugged the tie out, sliding her fingers through
the silky locks. “Will you stay up here while I sing?”

“I’ll be back in time for your show,” he
said, lifting her hands to his lips to kiss them. “I have to check
in with the
family
upstairs.”

He disappeared, along with Vex and Rage, and
she turned back to watch the crowd as they danced to music from the
sound system. Grabbing a lock of her hair, she inspected the
strands. The blue color was there, but it was fading. She’d sung to
Mishka days earlier, and it had kept her power well sated, but she
was looking forward to getting a boost from the crowd and helping
them to have a good night. Having a house band with a musical muse
as the lead singer would be a boon to the club and would draw
larger crowds as they realized what her powers could do.

“Looks like a good crowd tonight,” Wyst
said.

“I’m sure it will be great,” she said.

Her gaze moved around the club, from the
entrance and coat check, to the multiple bars that served every
kind of drink imaginable, to the dance floor where people writhed
to the beat like they were possessed. She saw Mishka and his guards
ascend a flight of stairs to the area known as the
family
room
, which was a private, glass-enclosed room where the
family
gathered for drinks.

The lights flickered twice and then went out
completely, causing the music to die and leaving the club in eerie
silence. A bright flash of light was followed by a loud explosion
near the stairs to the
family
room. She screamed as she
rushed forward, worry for Mishka overriding all else. She couldn’t
see anything in the darkness, but she knew where Mishka was because
of their bond. The crowd reacted with panicked screams. Another
bright flash of light was followed by another explosion near the
stage. She was blinded for a moment, dropping to her knees and
rubbing at her eyes. Her ears rang, and she shook her head. The
electric generators kicked on, and she saw her bandmates
surrounding her. She could see they were talking, but she couldn’t
hear them clearly.

She looked for Mishka and saw him, Vex, and
Rage battling with several people dressed entirely in black as the
family
rushed from the upstairs room. She ignored the
ringing in her ears and spots in her vision.

“We have to help!” she shouted.

When she tried to run, something grabbed her
ankles, and she stumbled toward the stage floor. She twisted to her
back as she fell, and her head smacked hard against the floor. Her
vision blurred for a brief moment, but she saw people dressed
entirely in black battling with her friends. A man jerked her
ankles and pulled her swiftly toward him. She kicked out and nailed
him in the cheek, but before she could get away, someone else
pulled a fabric bag over her head. A strange scent filled her nose,
and her head swam. She knew then that the fabric had been saturated
in something meant to knock her out. Her limbs felt heavy, and her
tongue felt swollen in her mouth. She tried to fight off the drug,
but she slipped away into nothingness, with her last thought on
Mishka.

Chapter 11

Mishka didn’t want to leave Harmony at the
side of the stage, but her bandmates were nearby, and he was simply
going to check in with the
family
and then he’d return to
her. As he ascended the stairs, he thought about her powers, and he
was curious to learn all he could. He’d felt her power for himself,
seen her hair go from almost completely brown to streaked with
bright blue as she sang to him, but he wanted to be a spectator and
see what it looked like when she sang for others. He was impressed
with her power, especially since he hadn’t known or believed that
muses were real.

He skirted the crowded dance floor and headed
for the guarded staircase that led to the glass-enclosed
family
room. Because it was the first night that Harmony was
singing with the band as the official house band, all the
family
had gathered to watch in the private room. Nodding at
the guards at the bottom of the stairs, he climbed the steps and
glanced toward the stage. Harmony was watching him, and he felt her
through their connection.

He paused, halfway up the stairs, tempted to
skip his usual check-in with the
family
and return to her
side, when the lights in the club flickered. Because of the strobe
lights and lasers, the dancing crowd didn’t seem to notice, but he
knew it wasn’t right. Gripping the handrail, he shouted to the
guards just as the electricity went out entirely, and then an
explosion and a bright flash of light sent the crowd into a
panic.

There was a second explosion near the stage.
The backup generator kicked on as a group of armed males dressed in
all black rushed the stairs. Mishka, Vex, and Rage grappled with
the males, easily overpowering them. More flooded the stairs,
blocking Mishka’s descent. Harmony screamed, and men attacked her
friends. He roared in fury, grabbing the handrail and leaping to
the floor. Something heavy dropped behind him, and he glanced back
for a brief moment to see Brone had jumped from the stairs. With
his oldest friend at his back, Mishka rushed to the stage, hugging
the wall to avoid the panicked crowd. Before he could reach the
stage, he saw Harmony carried off, while her bandmates were left
unconscious on the stage.

Leaping to the stage, he rushed to the steps
that led to a storage area. The exit door stood open, and the sound
of peeling tires could be heard in the alley behind the club.
Mishka raced through the door and looked both ways down the alley.
It was empty.

He turned to look at the security door. “How
did they get the door open without triggering the alarm?”

Brone closed the door and saw that the
locking mechanism had been melted along with the wires to the
security system. “I don’t know. Something powerful did this,
quickly enough that the system didn’t register that there was
anything wrong with the door.”

“I know who did this,” Mishka said, growling.
“I will have the church leader’s head on a spike!”

 

* * *

 

Harmony’s head ached, and she groaned. It
took only a moment for her to remember that she’d been abducted.
She was fairly sure it was the vampire-hating church that had set
off distracting explosions in the club and taken her.

The hood was pulled from her head, and she
squinted in the bright, overhead lighting. Lifting her hands to
shield her eyes, she found her wrists encased in handcuffs.

“Don’t try anything funny,” a man said.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she said, her
throat dry and an awful taste in her mouth. The room was
windowless, and the walls and floor were painted silver. The man
who had spoken to her was the only other occupant, and he stood in
front of the only door. He wore all black, and his hand rested on
the butt of a gun in a holster at his hip.

Easing into a seated position, she groaned
again and rolled her neck. Fear flashed through her, but she knew
that panicking would do her no good.

“Why are you okay?” he asked, his head
tilting in confusion.

“Excuse me? I’m not remotely okay. You and
your friends kidnapped me.”

“The silver…” his voice lowered, and he shook
his head. “Is this a trick? You’re the head bloodsucker’s girl. You
should be screaming.”

“What the ever-loving hell are you talking
about?”

He said nothing as he wrenched open the door
and shouted, “There’s a problem,” before walking out and then
slamming and locking the door, leaving her alone.

She twisted her wrists and inspected the
handcuffs. Giving them an experimental tug, she decided that if she
tried to pull her hands out of them, she’d just waste her time and
energy. Her legs weren’t tied up, so they hadn’t considered her a
threat. Pressing her fingertips to the floor, she realized it
wasn’t silver-colored paint but actual melted silver.

Silver didn’t bother vampires. It was one of
those myths that hung around no matter how many times in the past
vampires had said it wasn’t true. The fanatics had coated the room
in melted silver and then left her in there, believing it would
burn her.

They were pure evil.

Footsteps echoed outside of the door. She
rolled to her knees and rose to her feet, moving as far away from
the door as possible. It creaked as it opened, and three men and
one woman, all wearing angry expressions, stomped into the
room.

All but the woman rushed Harmony, shoving her
against the wall and making her head crack against it with the
force. She fought the wave of dizziness as the men inspected
her.

“Maybe the clothes are protecting her?” the
woman asked.

“Strip her,” one of the men said, his voice
booming.

“I’m not a vampire!” Harmony yelled, kicking
the men who reached for her clothing.

“She’s lying,” the woman said. “The head
bloodsucker wouldn’t screw a human.”

Twisting her body, Harmony wrenched herself
free from their grasps. “Why did you take me? I didn’t do anything
to any of you.”

The men took a menacing step toward her, but
the woman put up her hand so they stopped. “You’re living with the
bloodsuckers. That makes you one of them or a groupie. We saw you
with him. He’ll come for you.”

Harmony didn’t bother lying. She had a
feeling they knew a lot about her and Mishka, but she was baffled
by them thinking she was a vampire.

“I’m not a vampire. This room won’t hurt
me.”

“Maybe not, but it will hurt
him
,” the
woman said. “He’s lived for far too long. We will not stand idly by
while he encourages the bloodsuckers to kill our people in the name
of food. Dead people should stay dead.”

“You’re masquerading as a religion, but
you’re off your rocker. Vampires don’t hurt people, but you knocked
me out and abducted me. You’ve attacked the people at the club
numerous times, all in the name of humanity. Move the hell out of
Cleveland if you don’t like vampires, but don’t push your beliefs
on everyone else.”

“We have our reasons,” one of the men
said.

“Well, so do I.”

“You’re a whore,” another man said.

Rolling her eyes, Harmony said, “Yeah, sure,
whatever. Mishka’s sexy as hell and rocks my world. You should be
so lucky.”

“I’d rather die,” the woman said with a
sneer.

“Promise?” Harmony asked sweetly.

Her instincts told her that these fanatics
were not going to let her leave the room alive. If Mishka could
find her, then he, and anyone with him, could be killed too. She
wasn’t about to let anyone harm a hair on her beloved’s head. They
could do what they wanted to her, but he was off limits.

Ordering her power not to go off the deep
end, she reached for the darkness within her and opened her mouth.
As the words fell from her lips, she sent her power toward the four
people. She immediately grasped their emotions and searched for the
negative ones.

“What’s going on?” the woman demanded. “Shut
her up.”

“I feel…weird,” one of the men said, rubbing
his chest.

The woman pressed her hands over her ears.
“Make her stop!”

Harmony sang louder and faster, throwing her
power toward the people as she closed the distance between them.
She found fear within all of them, and she magnified it. Their
heartbeats quickened, and their chests heaved as they panted. Sweat
broke out on their foreheads. They struggled as if they wanted to
move, but they were frozen in place by the sheer terror that raced
through them.

Louder. Faster. Stronger.

The power built within her, stronger than
she’d ever felt it. One of the men collapsed to the floor,
clutching his chest. Part of her knew she could stop. They were
terrified and would pass out soon. But the power pushed her, made
her want to ensure that no one ever tried to come between her and
Mishka again. He was her beloved, her everything, and she would do
whatever it took to ensure his safety.

BOOK: A Muse for Mishka (Wiccan-Were-Bear #12)
9.22Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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