Magick Rising (36 page)

Jon watched her concentrate too much on the eggs. No matter what

she said, he still scared her. He might not be able to stop her memories of

abuse, but he could do everything he could to not look like her abuser. He

squeezed his eyes closed and ordered himself to change, for her sake.

The pain came faster, which was a good sign. Tensing every muscle in

the body, he threw his head back and tried to trigger the transformation. He

felt some slight movement in the underlying structure of his face but

nothing extreme, despite his focus and concentration.

With all his energies aimed toward change, his legs grew rubbery. He

reached out and grabbed the edge of the counter. A sharp flash of pain

sliced through his face from his right temple down to the left side of his jaw.

A second wave of pain slammed him in the chest, knocking the breath out

of him.

“Stop it.”

He barely heard her.

“You’re killing yourself.”

“I don’t want to look like him,” he said between gritted teeth.

“Mr. Craft, please . . .”

The moment she touched his arm, lights exploded behind his eyes. A

bolt of lightning flew down his spine and toyed much too long between his

legs. Overwhelming pain mixed with overwhelming desire. He understood

the source of the pain, but the desire? Was it his own or merely a leftover

from his too-thorough impersonation of David Worth?

He jerked out of her grasp and stumbled into the living room. As soon

as the contact was broken, most of the pain stopped, but the desire lingered.

He dropped to the couch, desperately trying to cover his erection. What

kind of sick bastard
was
he?

To his horror, Serenity followed him into the room. “I think you should

know that David and I bought this couch a week after we got married.”

He sprang up
. Just what I need. More contamination.

When she touched him, renewed pain rocketed through him. He tried

to bat away her help, but she couldn’t be dissuaded. With her help, he made

it back to the bedroom where he collapsed onto the bed. Unfortunately, she

fell along with him, ending up beneath him.

With the two of them tangled together in an intimate heap, there was

no way she could mistake his arousal for anything else. He tried to lift

himself off of her, but the strength in his arms failed. His only recourse was

to roll off of her, and that made his condition apparent.

She glanced over at him, making obvious notice of his . . . attributes.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she released an audible sigh.

“Well, there’s at least one way you and David differ.”

Jon wasn’t sure what to say until he felt the bed shake. He looked over,

and she had her hand over her mouth, covering an unexpected giggle.

He stared at her, mesmerized by the unexpected light in her eyes, the

soft curves of her face, the tantalizing scent of her perfume. Any man who

left a woman like this, much less raised a hand against her, was a complete

idiot. If she were his woman . . .

She’s not.

The only thing he could do was respond to her sudden sense of

whimsy. “You realize you’re laughing at a man in pain, don’t you?”

She nodded, unable to stifle her laughter as she sat up.

He shrugged in acknowledgment of her reaction then drew in a deep

breath. The pain started to subside, and he felt himself relax.

Everywhere.

Her giggles faded away to silence. Then she reached over to the bedside

table and snagged a tissue. “Here.” She handed it to him. “Your nose is

bleeding.” She paused then added, “And I do mean
your
nose.”

It’d been a long time since Jon had bled during a return, but then again,

he’d never stayed in face that long before. He felt a sudden burst of energy,

enough to push up from the bed so he could see his reflection in the dresser

mirror. The face that stared back at him still wasn’t his own, but, at least, a

closer approximation than before. He dabbed at the blood.

“I guess it’s true what they say about laughter being the best medicine,”

Serenity said as she sat up.

“More likely the drug I was given is finally wearing off.”

“You said it was a long story. Care to tell me now?”

He sat back down on the bed next to her. “I went to the Sinema Club to

find him. I talked to a woman, and I’m pretty sure she spiked my drink.

Then she took me into a backroom where she offered to become my dream

lover. Then she morphed into”—he fought the urge to say
You
—”another

women. When I realized what she could do, I showed her I could shift, too.”

“What happened?”

“She freaked, but instead of ratting me out, she made me leave but

promised to talk with me later. We met at an all-night restaurant, and that’s

where I learned girls at the club can shift but that management keeps them

in line by giving them some sort of addictive drug that enhances their

abilities. Then some goons showed up. Long story short, I took her drug so

that I could keep up the pretense of looking like David. I thought I was in

the clear until someone attacked me.”

She nodded in comprehension. “Thinking they were attacking David.

I’m not sure—” The doorbell interrupted her.

His instincts flared as he rose. “Are you expecting anyone?”

She stood as well. “It’s probably just a neighbor.”

He followed her to the door, standing beside it as she stood on her

tiptoes to look through the peephole.

“There’s one old lady down the street who always . . .” Her voice trailed

off.

“What’s wrong? Who is it?”

She turned to him, her face drained of color.

“It’s David.”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT me to do?”

Indecision filled her eyes. But panic quickly replaced uncertainty. Her

grip tightened on the doorknob. “Stay. I don’t want to be alone with him.”

Her answer pleased him in a way he didn’t want to contemplate, quite

yet. “Of course.”

She drew a deep breath, twisted the deadbolt, and opened the door. Jon

stood behind her, ready to react at the first sign of trouble.

“You.” She managed to put a lot of meaning in the one word.

A male voice answered. “What? No ‘Hiya David?’ No ‘Where you been,

Davy-boy?’ Is this any way to greet your husband?”

“Ex-husband.”

“X, Y, Z. Who cares? It’s just a letter.” The door opened wider. “Got

any coffee?”

Jon stepped forward so the man could see him. “You don’t have time

for coffee.”

David Worth stood in the doorway and gave Jon a languid but critical

once-over before finally breaking into a huge grin. “Good God, Serenity.

Freud would have a field day with this one. He looks enough like me to be

my brother.” He reached over and pinched her cheek as he stepped in. “Did

you really miss me that much, sweetheart?”

Before Jon could give into temptation and take a swing at the man,

Serenity slapped away David’s hand. “Touch me again and you’ll pull back a

bloody stump.”

Jon cheered silently for her.

Worth took a step backwards to stare at her, then a half-smile replaced

his astonishment. “Ooh. Somebody’s grown a backbone. You know,

Serenity, if you’d been this feisty during our marriage, I might not have

gotten so bored with you.”

“What are you doing here, David?” Her voice remained flat, but she

betrayed her anger by slamming the door behind him.

He sauntered into the living room. “Heard you sent someone to look

for me. If you want to beg my forgiveness, Sere, don’t bother. If there’s one

thing I hate, it’s an indecisive woman.”

She remained emotionless. “All I want is your signature.”

“On what?”

“Aunt Esther died. I need you to sign an agreement to release any

claims you have on her assets.”

He had the audacity to laugh. “So the old bat finally kicked the bucket,

eh?” He leaned closer to Jon as if sharing a secret. “The ol’ bitch actually

liked me, if you can believe it.”

Jon said nothing and, instead, glared at the man daring him to make a

move. Any move.

“Just agree to sign the damn papers, David.”

Jon glanced at Serenity, her hands tightened into fists. She might have

feared the man in the past, but no longer. It was anger that fueled her now.

Worth’s smile was almost angelic. “Got to read them first, love.”

Serenity stomped toward the hallway to the bedroom. Even though she

appeared to have everything under control, there was no way in hell Jon was

going to allow her ex a clear shot at her, verbally or physically. He positioned

himself between Worth and the hallway.

Wearing an expression of mild amusement, Worth strolled over to the

couch, sat down, and propped his feet on the coffee table, narrowly

knocking off a basket of flowers. “Sere must be in heaven. You’re not only a

dead ringer for me, but a real guard dog.” He grinned. “She was always the

type who needed saving. Mostly from herself. Me? I got tired of the constant

duty.”

Jon flinched, unable to hide his disgust for the man.

Worth waved away Jon’s action. “At ease, solider. Don’t worry. I’m not

going to touch her.”

I can guarantee that.

Serenity stalked back into the room and dropped the papers on the

coffee table. “The signature has to be notarized. Pete said we could come

over when you’re ready to sign.”

“
If
I sign.”

When she sat down, Jon took a position beside her, perched on the arm

of the chair, placing himself between Serenity and her ex. She noticed his

deliberation and mouthed a silent “
Thank you.”

While they waited for David to read the papers, Jon felt the muscles in

his face begin to tingle, a signal that, after all the time he’d spent trying to rid

himself of David Worth’s face, he now had to reverse gears and maintain it.

The last thing he needed to do was let Worth know what he could do.

But after only a few moments, his muscles relaxed, a warning he’d

reached the end of his control. He made eye contact with Serenity and

rubbed his face in hopes she understood the signal. Then, he rose from the

couch and headed toward the bedroom, hoping he could get out of sight

before his normal features returned.

“Don’t let me keep you two from anything,” Worth called out.

Jon made it almost to the hallway before the pain hit him. As he braced

against the wall, he berated himself for having such lousy timing. It was

definitely the wrong time to show any weaknesses.

Unfortunately, Worth looked up from his papers. “Whoa pal, you don’t

look so good.” He stared harder. “In fact you look different.” His smarmy

expression faded. “Holy shit!”

Jon’s knees gave out. Serenity braced him from one side, and to his

surprise, Worth sprang under his other arm, helping him back to the couch.

If being around the place where Worth had lived was bad, certainly coming

in direct contact with the man had to be dangerous, but to Jon’s relief,

nothing happened.

But he didn’t have time to marvel over this or the fact that Worth

seemed to know what to do. As soon as Jon settled on the couch, Worth

began to examine him with the cold efficiency of a doctor, measuring his

pulse, checking his eyes.

“Get a couple of ice packs,” Worth demanded.

Serenity hesitated.

“Now!”

She appeared at few moments later with a zip bag filled with ice cubes

and a kitchen towel. Worth placed the freezing pack behind the back of

Jon’s neck.

“Just leave it there, pal. It’ll slow the change, and the pain will lessen.”

Jon stared at his unexpected benefactor, realizing that Worth’s first aid

skills betrayed intimate knowledge of shapeshifting. Now, he understood.

“You work with the girls at the club.”

David nodded. “I’ve learned a trick or two about shifting.” He leaned

back and crossed his arms, his expression more like that of an irritated

schoolteacher. “This is classic Glue withdrawal. But how in the world did

you get ahold of any?”

“Glue?” Serenity questioned.

David glanced over his shoulder at her. “A supplement we give the girls

to help them.” He turned back to reposition the ice.

“Supplement? Or narcotic?” Serenity corrected.

Worth shrugged. “Semantics.” He turned to Jon. “You have classic

symptoms of someone coming off a full dose for the first time.”

“First and last,” Jon admitted, struggling to rise. He kept the bag of ice

pressed against his neck, appreciating how the freezing pain helped him

focus.

Worth shifted back, stroking his chin. “Now I understand. Laila must

have slipped you a pill. You changed into me, got stuck, and then got the

crap beaten out of you.” He wagged a finger at Jon. “See? What they say

about drugs is true. They’re dangerous.”

Before Jon could say anything, Serenity stepped forward. “So that’s

how you get your jollies? Keep a bunch of girls addicted so they’ll perform