Autumn Storm (14 page)

Mine.

As his magicks spread through her body, some
part of her knew she belonged right here, with Decker. Her own
restraint no longer seemed …natural, not when Decker was meant to
claim her.

He released her face first then broke off
the kiss. Autumn opened her eyes, gazing at him. She was breathing
quickly, and his gaze was dark with desire.

“There will be a next time.” The huskiness
and need in his voice thrilled her. “One-one. We’re even.”

No part of her was able to rein in what she
felt. Even without his touch, she was lost to him. Some part of her
was triumphant to see him affected as well. It was a small victory,
one she wasn’t certain was a victory at all, especially not if it
meant he was going to ensure there was a next time.

“We’ll finish this later.” He winced
suddenly.

Autumn shifted back as he rose and strode
away. She didn’t hear the door open, but she sensed his magick
leave.

Her body shook from the effects of his fire.
It took her a few minutes before her head returned to her and the
passion coursing through her body began to fade. She closed her
eyes and concentrated on breathing deep to steady herself and
reinstall her self-control. When she did, she realized how close
she’d come to crossing the point of no return. She’d been willing
to do anything, go anywhere, let him consume her with his fire and
water, no matter what the consequences.

Mine.
Was it her thought or his? It
came at the point when she’d convinced herself she was meant to be
claimed. Or maybe, when
he
convinced her?

Autumn shook her head, unable to shake off
the sensations lingering after his kiss. She couldn’t tell what
part of her reaction to him was caused by his magick and what part
was natural attraction. He’d seduced her. But she’d
wanted
him to since the first time they met. She’d wanted to be absorbed
in him, because she belonged with him.

Decker’s kiss. A fire. A cabin.

A headache hit her hard as the memory almost
formed, yanking her out of the lingering fire. Autumn gripped her
head with both hands.

Touched by the kindness he showed this night
and that of the football game, she couldn’t quite swallow the idea
that he
killed
people or that she’d let herself fall for his
strange game of seduction. She was stronger than that. She was
stronger than him. She thrived on their interactions. He didn’t
back down. He didn’t hold back. He didn’t treat her like others
did, like she was someone who should be pitied.

The combination of his fire and the chilled
air magick in her blood was enough to drive her crazy. What was it
like to surrender to something that wasn’t pain? To truly
feel
alive without worry or fear? She felt it in his kiss, a
promise of what awaited her. She’d felt something else in him: a
struggle, not for control with her, but an internal battle.

Maybe with the strange presence she’d sensed
on the cliff?

Her migraine grew stronger, until she was
ready to throw up. It took all her strength to force herself to
stop thinking about him. Exhausted, exhilarated, Autumn reached for
the remote and lay down. She couldn’t walk with this headache.
She’d rest until she could return to her room.

She prayed he didn’t mean to return tonight.
She didn’t have the strength to resist. Uncertain if she should
when the kiss was so natural, she nonetheless wanted to be with him
by her choice, not because the shadows influenced her.

Decker returned to his dorm room and reached
for the knife on top of his dresser. His hand trembled hard. He
knocked the weapon to the floor. The voices in his head were at a
scream that threatened to drop him to the floor. The sense that a
soul had gone bad slammed against his brain.

The blond girl was right: he had no control
over the elements, not when it came to her. As much as he wanted to
think he’d walked away, he knew the call-out was all that saved
either of them from what he’d wanted to do to her.

There was something about her he hadn’t
quite figured out. Something hidden, like a pearl in a clamshell.
The sense was too fleeting. He’d thought he misread her the first
time they met at the cliff. This time, he was certain the girl was
more of a mystery than he’d thought. He just didn’t know what that
meant.

Heart racing, he gripped the edge of the
dresser with both hands to support himself. She’d silenced the
voices and the Dark side of him with her passion. He’d wanted to
lose himself in her soft skin and scent, the taste of her honey.
Worse, he’d wanted to claim her as he had Summer, to make her his,
and not for a single night. For every night of his life.

She
felt
like Summer! How was it
possible?

He couldn’t get over the sensations
remaining from the incredible kiss or his horror. Summer died three
months ago today. It was supposed to be his day to honor and
remember her. Instead, he was compelled to someone else and
considering replacing the love of his life with a girl whose name
he didn’t even know. Was he so weak that he fell for the first
pretty face that tempted him?

You must not make the same mistake you
did with Summer. We will protect her from you, but you must let the
Darkness control you,
Bartholomew told him.

With a frustrated roar, Decker shoved his
school books onto the floor.

“I can come back.”

Was this voice inside his head? Unable to
tell, he sucked in deep breaths. The wild magick in his blood began
to settle. When his limited control return, he snatched the knife
from the floor. Straightening, he noticed for the first time that
someone was in his room.

A girl was under the sheet of his bed. By
the outline of her body, she was naked. It took him a moment to
register the familiar face of an ex-girlfriend.

“Alexa,” he said. “What’re you doing
here?”

“I heard you’ve got an open invitation to
your bed for Dark girls. Thought I’d take you up on the offer.”

The call-out was demanding his attention. He
grabbed a jacket from the closet. He’d need the brief comfort he
found in a woman’s body tonight. He wanted it to be the blond girl.
With her in his bed, he’d never need anyone else. He’d never want
to leave, either.

His final act of failure: betraying Summer.
There was no other line for him to cross. He was weak, broken.
Maybe it was better that Summer died. She deserved so much better
than him. The blond girl did, too. She deserved someone like his
brother, who had already staked a claim at the football game.

Decker hated himself more this night than
most.

“You want me to come back later?” Alexa
asked, disappointment in her voice.

“No. Stay here. I’ll be back in a bit,” he
said then paused, gauging the level of fire in his blood. “You got
any friends you can invite over?”

“What?”

“I’m gonna need a couple of you.”

“I … I guess.” She sounded pissed.

Decker didn’t care. He summoned his shadows
and let them take him to the call-out. The Darkness didn’t claim
him as it had most nights. Instead, he remained wired and
hyperaware, his emotions at a scream with the voices.

The Dark side of him roared for blood. Like
sex and drugs, it was a temporary fix and a high that got him
through a few more hours.

The shadows took him to the bad soul across
the world. It was dark, balmy and warm where they left him. He
smelled the ocean on the breeze.

Music blared, and the scents and smoke from
marijuana and cigarettes rolled into the street from the party in
the apartment overlooking the alley in which Decker stood. He
sought the entrance to the building and walked through the
hallways, until he found a stairwell to the fourth floor. Down
another corridor, he found the party. People, trash and alcohol
spanned across several apartments.

Using his magick, he reached out to identify
where the newly Dark soul was and followed his instincts. He
jostled his way through the humans, unconcerned with them, when the
prey he hunted was nearby.

He sensed several witchlings here, both Dark
and Light. The Darkness was creeping into his mind again, ready to
take control of his body. He wanted …
needed
it to help him
this night, after kissing the blond girl.

The soul he sought wasn’t in the main room.
He walked through the first hallway and opened one door. The couple
within was in the throes of sex. The sight left him aroused, the
fire in his blood adding to his agitated magick. They were humans,
not witchlings.

He went to the second door and opened it.
Five witchlings – three Light, one Dark and one newly Dark – were
gathered around a pentagram. In the center of the pentagram was the
pale, naked body of a brunette. Two of the Light witchlings – both
girls – were crying. He sensed by the Light Law broken that someone
had tried blood magick to help the human girl in the center, who
had overdosed.

She was dead. There was no bringing her
back. His eyes took in her pale skin and the dark hair fanning
around her head. She was built much like the soul mate he’d lost.
An image of Summer’s naked body in the moonlight flashed through
his thoughts. He’d spent a weekend with her in his parent’s cabin,
making love to her and learning more about the girl meant to be his
mate.

The vision in his head changed. Summer was
replaced by the blond girl whose kiss destroyed what little Decker
held sacred: the memory of his time Summer. He shouldn’t have
kissed the blond. He’d failed Summer in life. He’d betrayed her in
death.

Tonight is the night you choose.
Bartholomew-the-Terrible said.
If you kill enough Light
witchlings, the Darkness will take away your pain.

Guilt rose, followed by resolve. Decker
stared at the body then turned his gaze to the three Light
witchlings. All eyes were on him. Judging by the glazed looks, they
were drugged. Only one had the sense to look terrified when she
recognized that the Dark Master stood in their midst.

Decker hesitated. The Light witchlings were
innocent, their eyes already red with tears from crying over their
friend.

You’ll have peace at last,
Bartholomew told him.
Everyone you love will be protected from
what you are. All you have to do is kill them.

With a deep breath, Decker turned to close
the door and lock it. He stretched his neck and rolled his
shoulders. The Darkness was at the edge of his mind, waiting to see
what he chose to do.

Decker withdrew the knife and wound his
fingers through the hair of the nearest Light witchling, pulling
her head back to expose her vulnerable neck.

Was he ready to cross the point of no
return?

He paused. The Darkness seized his body
without taking his mind. It made his wrist flick. Blood spurted
over his hands, the scent and warmth making him shudder with
pleasure- and horror of what he’d done. The witchling sank to his
feet, the light in her eyes dying.

The others began screaming, but not for
long. Decker killed the newly Dark witchling before the Darkness
seized his mind and took over the slaughter. Decker fell into the
calm, gentle depths of his mind. The pain, fury, frustration, shame
… all disappeared. He relaxed in the quiet place, unconcerned with
what the Darkness did with his body.

Suddenly, it returned his mind and body to
him. Decker jolted back into himself and the emotions. Blood soaked
him, calming him. He looked around, taken aback by the carnage the
Darkness committed. The knife was clenched in his hand and dripped
with blood.

He couldn’t help feeling uneasy. Was
Darkness really his only escape? Sometimes, when the voices in his
head were quiet enough, he was able to hear his own instincts. They
didn’t always agree with Bartholomew.

Someone knocked at the door. Decker
collected the amulets and destroyed them all, one-by-one. Claiming
the souls made him high. He ordered his shadows to take him back to
the dorm. They complied, and he materialized in his room.

“Oh, my god,” Alexa breathed from the bed.
“Are you okay?”

His gaze fell to her, a new hunger rising
hard and fast. He stripped out of his clothing and strode to his
bed.

“I thought I told you to bring a friend,” he
growled.

“I can handle you,” she said, a mix of fear
and desire on her face.

She’d never outlast him. That much he knew.
She pulled her to him, and he went willingly, losing himself in her
scent and warm skin. Within moments, she was writhing and crying
out in ecstasy beneath him. His lust wasn’t so easily satisfied,
and he licked, nipped, touched and buried himself inside her over
and over. She was exhausted long before he was ready to quit, but
he rolled away at last. She kissed his face and sank into
sleep.