Dark Tremor (Mated by Magic #2) (7 page)

Terra stood beside the door and scowled at Jace who’d retreated behind the bar to make another drink. “Stop staring at me like that.”

“Like what?” Small flames lit the wide pupils of his smoldering gaze. He licked his lips.

“Like that.” She threw up her hands. The man was infuriating. One second he was rejecting her, the next he looked like he was ready to devour her.

“You want to mate with me, but you can’t handle a little heat?” One side of his mouth went up as he sat down on a bar stool with arms crossed over his chest.

What a jerk
. “I never said I wanted to mate with you. I said I wanted to merge our powers.”

“Same thing.” He flashed a sexy dimple.

Her cheeks heated like they were on fire and her hands balled into fists. Within her chest her heart pounded erratically.

“I couldn’t care less about the sex part. I just want to make sure Mic is stopped.”

“Liar.” He grinned and leaned back against the bar, legs crossed.

“You’re pretty high on yourself, you know that.” She wrinkled her nose, wishing she could wiggle it and turn him into a toad.

“It’s solstice heat, darling.” He pushed off the stool and stalked toward her. “Just because I don’t want to mate with you, doesn’t mean I don’t want to fuck you.”

He did not just say that.
She glanced left and right, and saw nowhere to run.

He stood inside her personal space, and she caught the scent of rye, leather, and musk.

“Unfortunately for both of us, during solstice there’s no separating the two.”

Between her legs, she creamed for him as she backed away toward the bathroom. Maybe she’d make it in time to bolt the door.

“So you’d sleep with me as long as there were no strings attached?” 

“I didn’t say anything about sleeping.” He laughed.

She took a sharp breath at his mocking, and let it out slowly. “God, you’re impossible.”

“Says the little badger.”

“Stop calling me that.”

Another bit of self-control fell away and power oozed out, despite trying to contain it. If she wasn’t careful, she’d bring the entire building down on both of their heads. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths, but the tremors didn’t subside. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Hey.” Jace moved closer, placing his large hands on her shoulders, touching her, calming her, and yet at the same time stirring a desire that seemed impossible to deny.

“I’m okay,” she said, putting a lid on the energy. “I shouldn’t be in a building like this. My powers are too volatile. I need to get out of here.”

“Look at me.” His fingers threaded through her hair, while his thumbs stroked her cheeks.

Green eyes held her gaze and his breath drew close, warming her lips. She couldn’t move if she wanted to. With heart racing wilder than ever, she lifted her hands and placed them on his chest. She had every intention of pushing him away, but his beating heart under her palms only amplified her hunger. 

“Jace, I–”

His lips covered hers, his tongue taking full advantage of her gasp.

Holy mother of pearls.
The heat was scorching. She opened her mouth, and a little moan vibrated in her throat.

The taste of his lips made her insides turn to mush. Her fingers itched to wrap around his neck, to draw him closer and never let go.

With a jolt, Jace pulled back, blinking repeatedly. He sent her a fierce scowl as if what was going on between them was all her fault, and said, “I’m going to have a shower.”

“Now? A shower?” Heat rushed to her cheeks and her lower lip might’ve bled, she bit down so hard.

Without giving her any reasonable explanation, he crossed the room and slammed the bedroom door.

She stared open-mouthed, took a deep breath, and then willed the trembling in her hands to stop. It wasn’t just her body that’d betrayed her. Her mind wouldn’t stop conjuring images of what it would be like to have him naked, on top of her…inside her.

A shiver raced down her spine, sending a jolt between her thighs and her body ached with need. Hadn’t he felt it too? She knew he had, so what was stopping him?

Obviously, he didn’t want to be saddled with her. She groaned, furious at herself for thinking for one moment he cared.

Frigging men
. She’d never relied on one before, she certainly wouldn’t now. Not with him.

If Jace had no intention of mating, then tomorrow she’d destroy the mine herself. It was the only way to ensure that Mic didn’t get the turquoise.

As she was working up to seriously-pissed-beyond-belief, the hotel phone rang.

“Hello?” She glowered at the receiver.

“Terra. It’s Wovoka. Have you seen Falcon?”

Oh man.  She didn’t have the heart to tell the old healer the truth. “Uh, I believe he went into the desert.”

“I know a lot more than you think. He’s in trouble. If you know where he is–”

“I’ll find him,” she promised. “And make sure he’s safe.”

“Thank you.”

She hung up and rubbed her forehead.

Shit. There was no way Jace would approve of what she was about to do.

When she heard the shower turn on, she opened the door to the bedroom and snuck inside. Jace’s pants lay discarded on the bed. She reached into the pockets and pulled out the dark turquoise. She’d need it to have any hope in hell of defeating Mic, if he showed up. The stones buzzed and vibrated in her hands, causing a surge of power to form in her fingertips. Before she lost control, she shoved them in her pants.

  She continued searching until she found his key ring. Stealing wasn’t something she normally did, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, she was just borrowing. In the end, she’d make him understand. Falcon was family.

She kissed Pumpkin, slipped out the door, and shut it quietly behind her. Trying to feel brave, she pictured herself as Clint Eastwood.
Do you feel lucky, Mic? Well, do ya, punk?

* * *

The sun was ready to set when she parked the truck at the bottom of the hill. Falcon sat half-hidden by the long shadows of the entrance boulders. His face was bloodied, his clothes torn, and by the way he held his left arm, she was sure it was broken.

“Your grandfather is looking for you,” she said, slamming the door and working up the perfect mood to give him a piece of her mind.

Falcon stood. “Terra, you have to let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you’re Mic Luggerio’s little pet now?” She climbed the hill, never taking her eyes off him. Pebbles and stones rolled under her feet, making a small avalanche fall down the hill.

“It’s not like that. He made me–” He winced when he put weight on one of his legs.

“Made you what? What did you do? Did you tell him who I was?”

“No.”

“Just where I lived?” She met him eye to eye, midway to the cave’s entrance.

“I’m sorry. Terra, you have to listen to me, I–”

“You’re unbelievable. I trusted you. Thought you were my friend.” She didn’t know him at all. Not anymore. “Shit, Falcon, you asked me to marry you. Is that why you did it? Because I said no?”

“No.” His voice trembled as he continued. “He had pictures of us together. What was I supposed to do? And how was I supposed to know the trouble you’d gotten yourself into. Mic’s really pissed about these stones. All you have to do is give them to him, and he’ll back off.”

“Back off? He tried to have me killed today.” Since when did the world revolve around Falcon? What had changed? Or had he always been this way and she just hadn’t noticed?

“That wasn’t the plan. He just wanted to scare you a bit.” He grabbed her wrist with his good hand. His healing talent flared, but it seemed sick, wrong.

“You’re defending him now?” Her temper flared as she pulled her arm back and wriggled out of his grasp.

“No. I just–”

“You know what? Save it. Just get in the truck and I’ll bring you back to the rez.” She was so angry she barely noticed the rumbling beneath her. 

A black car, like the sedans driven by Mic’s men, tore up the dirt road.

“What have you done?” She stared incredulously at Falcon.

“Nothing. I promise. They must’ve followed you.”

“Hurry. You take the truck.” She tossed him the keys and all but pushed him down the hill. “I promised Wavoka that I would make sure you were safe.”

He slid on the gravel, then ran down the hill. “Terra–”

“Go.” The ground rumbled beneath her and Falcon’s eyes went wide.

He nearly flooded the engine as he tried desperately to start it, then sped off in the opposite direction as the black Mercedes neared.

She didn’t have much time. Pulling the stones from her pocket, she sucked in the energy, and directed it toward the mine. The ground trembled, but not as fiercely as she’d hoped. It seemed like days, not hours, since she’d climbed out of her ruined house. She was still weak from this morning.

Stunned by her loss of power, she closed her eyes and concentrated, this time sending a more powerful blast. A few large rocks tumbled, but the cave remained exposed. Shit. She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid.

What was she going to do?

She looked up the steep cliff. The hill was high, and the rocks fairly loose...Gravity could be her friend.

The men below grinned and jeered as she scrambled up the hill. What were they waiting for? A dust plume lit by the last rays of the setting sun answered her. Three black sedans tore up the desert, heading in their direction. Mic. It had to be him.

For a moment, her heart beat out of control, a real panic attack. Drips of perspiration rolled down her side and back. She crouched low inside one of the crevices.

Car doors slammed shut.

She peered around the rock and cursed under her breath.

Mic and another suit exited one of the vehicles. Immediately, five more men piled out of the second car. The third idled, windows up, reflecting pink sky and a few lone clouds.

“Terra? Come down from there.” The deep, bass voice had to be Mic. “I just want to talk. It doesn’t have to be like this. I’m your father. I love you. I didn’t realize who you were, but now that I do, we can be a family. You want that, don’t you Terra?”

How many times had she dreamed of something like this? Of having a real father? A family? Her hope almost walked her down the hill, but a niggling in the back of her mind held her back. This was Mic. Liar. Gangster. Rapist.

“If you love me, then leave me alone.” Her voice cracked, sounding weak.

He sneered, and with a wave of his hand, sent his men to surround her.

“Come out now, Kitten, and no one gets hurt.”

“That’s what you do, right? Hurt people when you don’t get your way. I know what you did to my mom. What you’ll do to me.”

“Your mother was trash. She spread her legs wide for me, then ran off taking what was mine. You belong to me, Terra.”

Even if she was walking into a trap, she couldn’t let him get away with maligning her mom. She dug her hands into the earth and sent a tidal wave of dirt rolling down the hill. His car flew into the air, but Mic braced his legs and surfed over the top until it settled.

She needed more power.
Now.

The men scrambled up the hill shouting directions.

Dashing into the mine, the dark turquoise called to her. She reached through the thin fissure, brushing the tips of her fingers against the stone, tapping into its energy.

Mic’s dark shadow squeezed between the rocks. 

This is for you, Mom.

She stomped the ground and started what she hoped was her strongest earthquake ever. If need be, she would bury them all. Killing him was worth the risk.

His counterblast was lightning fast. One of the entrance boulders rolled towards her. She had to send it back in order not to be crushed.

The half-second that she lost her focus was all he needed to tap into the frequency of the turquoise. He sent rocks flying in her direction, causing her to expend all her power defending herself until she lay back exhausted.

“Now.” He rushed forward with a healer that she recognized from the reservation.

A needle plunged into her arm and it stung like hell. The drug rushed through her veins and her lids drooped, too heavy to open more than a slit.

Mic shouted something about Jace and the Fialkos, but she couldn’t focus enough to understand his words.

One of Mic’s goons picked her up roughly, carrying her back through the cave. Her body was useless, her mind a fuzzy haze.

By the time the man lifted her in the back seat, her limbs refused to respond and her head lolled.

“Careful, you idiots, Mic doesn’t want her damaged.” The screechy female voice sounded familiar.

Terra forced one eye open and stared, aghast.