Secret Seduction (6 page)

“No worries, we have the chest.” The sound of Ian’s voice made her look up.

She wiped the tears away, then moved to sit on the bed beside Cage.

“I’m so sorry, Kayla.”

“For what? You saved me from being killed.”

“I know, but if I hadn’t done that spell, I wouldn’t have had to cast those other spells. They all wanted me dead also, I just know it. No witch and vampire are supposed to mate. Never…but…”

“But what, my lovely?” Cage asked.

“What I saw in the future with Cage was more happiness than I ever thought I could feel. I shouldn’t mate with any vampires or werewolves for what they did to my ancestors. But why punish everyone for what one person did so long ago?”

“I agree with you,” Kayla told her.

Ian walked up to her, handing her the chest.

“I couldn’t open it,” he told her.

“You can’t because it takes the correct words to open it. I knew that my powers would be taken away, so I had to make sure I could open it later.”

Amanda took the box and held it, looking at the others.

“We made this for betrayal. They wanted me to live forever and find out what I could do to take down the werewolf and vampire populations. I made five rings, I remembered how drained I was when I created these. I was supposed to only make one, but when I did five they knew what I had planned.”

“What was that?” Kayla asked.

“To save you, myself, Ian, Cage and Logan. If they would kill you, you would never die unless they took the rings off, which would be extremely hard to do once you place them on your finger.” Amanda smiled. “And an added bonus, no sun problems.”

“Are you saying that you made rings that would allow us to see the sun for the first time?” Cage asked excitedly.

“Yes.” Amanda smiled again and whispered, “Aeternum Formosa.”

“Forever, my lovely,” Cage recited.

“You know Latin?” Amanda asked.

“Yes. I had a long time to learn many different languages.”

“I now remember. You called me
my lovely
in the vision, and that’s when I came up with the password.”

The chest clicked and opened. Inside were five ordinary looking golden rings.

Amanda reached in and pulled them all out. She placed them in her hand.

“How do we know they will work and that you are not trying to kill us?” Cage asked.

“You don’t have to put it on, Cage, but you can now look in my mind and see my past, you just can’t alter my mind or anything like that.”

Amanda looked at Cage, letting him draw her into his mind.

* * * *

Cage pushed deep inside Amanda’s mind. Her mind was strong, almost pushing him out the moment he invaded. He saw that Amanda spoke the truth about what she had told them. She was only trying to protect them all and nothing more.

After pulling out of her mind, he looked at her for a while. Amanda had fallen in love with only seeing a vision of him. She wanted to live with him forever and she had given up everything to do it. Her family. Her powers. Everything.

Amanda held out her hand.

“Cage?” Logan questioned if it was safe.

“She tells the truth.”

Everyone took one of the rings.

“Now there’s going to be a little discomfort when placing it on. The ring is going to bind not only to your finger but also to your being. If you die and this ring is still attached, you will return to the living, depending on the damage to the body and how long it takes to repair. And the only way to get it off is by magic, which I don’t have, or by cutting your finger off.”

Everyone nodded, then slipped the rings onto their fingers. Amanda watched as her ring shimmered before getting smaller around her finger. It burned just a little as the magic flowed through her body. The ring attached itself to her and she knew that it would protect her until the end of time.

“Ready to try them out?” Logan’s voice had excitement in it.

Cage couldn’t wait to see what the sun felt like for the first time and not have to run from it. There were times where he had to run under the sun to get away from enemies but he never had the chance to enjoy it. He usually clouded the sky when he wanted to go somewhere doing the day. And it drained him when he had to do that.

“No time like the present,” Cage told them.

They all made their way upstairs.

“Stay here, Kayla, let us test them out first,” Ian said.

“You doubt the power I used to have?” Amanda asked with a smile.

“No, but I don’t want her getting hurt just in case they have an expired time.”

“Trust me, they don’t.”

Cage grasped the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He hesitated for a moment, then decided it was now or never.

He opened the door and closed his eyes, ready to flee if he had to. The sun’s rays touched his body first and he waited for the burning sensation to start. When it never came, he opened his eyes.

Logan was next, followed by Ian and Kayla.

“Oh my god, I can feel the sun again!” Kayla shouted to the heavens.

Kayla ran up to Amanda, hugging her tightly.

“I love you, too, but breathing is becoming an issue,” Amanda teased her.

“Oops, sorry. I’m just so happy to see the sun again. I love you so much right now.” Kayla hugged her again.

“I love you, too, Kayla.”

“Thanks so much, Amanda,” Ian said. “For giving the sun back to my mate, and to me for the first time.”

“You are welcome, Ian.”

“Thank you, Amanda,” Logan told her.

Cage walked to the door where Amanda stood and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

“How about I thank you in the privacy of my room?”

Amanda laughed.

“Okay, lover boy, I may be destined to be with you, but I’m not going to make it easy.” She smiled at him. “If not for you, I don’t think I would have ever remembered any of this because the witch’s spell kept me away from that place. But since you helped, I will go out with you on one date.”

“A date? Sweetheart, we are past dating. Do you not remember what I did to you last night?”

“That’s my cue to leave,” Logan said.

“Ditto,” Ian agreed and pulled Kayla back inside the house.

“You do know that I don’t like being told
no
,” Cage said with a smirk on his face.

Amanda ran her fingers down the front of his shirt.

“Yes, I do. But I also know you feed off my releases. You get full strength when we are together, more than when you are out just being with others.”

Cage tilted his head a little. “There are no
others
and will never be any others but you. So, yes, you will have to feed my magic a lot.”

“And what do I get out of the deal?” Amanda asked him.

“You are satisfied every time, and if you don’t ruin my rep by telling anyone that I worship the ground you walk on I would make sure you are satisfied daily.”

“No deal,” Amanda teased, making him growl.

She moved away from him and walked toward her car. Cage disappeared and surrounded Amanda in his spirit form.
If she wants to play hard, then I can play this game, but she will lose.
He picked her up, one invisible hand going around her waist, the other over her mouth.

He carried her back inside the house as she struggled to get away. Cage dropped her un-ceremonially onto the bed. She tried to get up but he tied her down to the bed with invisible bonds before he reappeared next to the bed.

“You know this trick is not going to get what you want. No deal. No dates,” Amanda taunted him.

He knew she did it on purpose. “Then you will stay in my bed until you agree.”

“You will not take me unless I agree. You may be some badass out there, but here I know you love me.”

Cage looked at her.
Love
? He didn’t love anyone. Did he? Could this human be his other half? How could it be, when he had not been looking for her? He thought he could spend time with her, feed his magic, then after a couple of years, move on. He didn’t expect to fall in love. The thought of being at the mercy of a woman sent his blood boiling.

Cage snarled and leaned closer to look in her eyes. “I don’t
love
,” he snapped, then released her and disappeared.

* * * *

Amanda sat up in the bed when Cage disappeared.
What a baby!
He wanted to keep his bad boy reputation, but he’d need to change if he wanted to be with her.

Amanda knew it would take time and patience to train him, since he was almost fifteen hundred years old, but she was willing to try.

“You big coward!” she screamed to the ceiling, knowing no matter where he disappeared to, he could hear her.

Amanda felt her pockets, glad to have found her keys. She made her way back upstairs. She would go home and rest some, finally feeling like herself after so many years. Cage would pout for a while, but he would be back. She knew that, because her future vision had told her so.

Meagan walked into the club. Her anger level had jumped off the scales. Ian had to be here somewhere. She had been searching for him all day. There were not many cars outside, nor many pedestrians hanging out front of the club.

She pushed the doors open and strolled inside. Walking slowly, she kept her senses on high alert, not knowing how Ian would take to seeing her again. No matter, he would go home with her tonight.

“Amanda, I’m going home to Ian, are you going to stay here?”

Meagan heard the name
Ian
and stopped. She must be his so-called mate.
Look at her!
She looked so plain and unattractive.
What does Ian see in her?

“No. Cage is being a big baby. I’m going home, but his ass better not show up at my home tonight wanting to make up because he’s out of luck,” Amanda told her.

“Come on, then. You can stay at Logan’s tonight. He has seven rooms in that place.”

“I don’t know. Would he mind?”

“Girl, you gave us all life today, I’m sure he will not mind. And there we can keep Cage at bay—if that’s what you want.”

Meagan followed them out the door. She would kill both of them tonight. She would not let this human touch her man again. Ever.

* * * *

Kayla didn’t know why, but she had the strangest feeling that they were being followed, ever since they’d left the club. A sense of anger flowed through her from someone and she felt the person wanted to hurt her.

The moment she thought that, someone crashed down on top of her car. A woman with light blue eyes and blonde hair with fangs snarled at them.

Kayla screamed and slammed on the brakes. The vampire on the hood of her car did not budge. She growled loudly and grabbed the roof of her car, snatching it off as if it was tin foil.

“Hey, I just finished paying for this car!”

“Pathetic human witch and low breed vampire.” The woman snarled. “Where is Ian?”

“Why do you want to know?” Amanda snapped.

The woman snarled again, moving quickly, moving behind Amanda, and snapping her neck.

“Now, tell me where he is.”

“You just killed my friend, you bitch.”

Letting the anger take over, Kayla growled and leapt toward the woman, knocking both of them to the ground.

Her hand went around the woman’s throat, trying to snap her neck. The woman bent her knees, kicked out, sending Kayla flying toward the car. She landed on the side of the car with a loud thump. Kayla slid to the ground.

As she tried to get up, the woman walked up to her and placed her foot on her neck.

“You are Ian’s mate? You are nothing. I was with him for many years and you come along and think you will take him from me?”

Kayla tried to push the woman’s foot sway from her neck, but the other woman was much stronger.

Kayla knew that this was the way she would die. She felt the fragile bones in her neck starting to give under the pressure from her foot.

“You don’t die this night, half-breed.”

Just when Kayla knew she would pass out at any moment, a strong gust of wind came by, knocking the woman away from her.

“Cage!” the woman yelled, then disappeared into the night like a flash of lightning.

Seconds later, Cage appeared next to Amanda’s body.

“Fuck. I got here too late.”

Kayla grabbed her neck, knowing it would be sore for a while.

“She will be all right, Cage. She has to be. She made these rings for that.”

As if right on cue, Amanda took a deep breath, and sat up.

“Damn it, that hurts like hell!”

Kayla didn’t get a chance to respond. Cage had Amanda in his arms and they both disappeared into thin air.

“Oh right, leave me here!” Kayla yelled to the skies.

Amanda fell to the bed and Cage dropped beside her. The first thing she noticed was his eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. She frantically searched for her phone to call someone. Logan’s name was the first one she could think of.

“Logan!” she yelled into the phone.

“Yes, Amanda, what’s wrong?”

“Me and Kayla got attacked. Some female vampire killed me. Cage was pissed off so he grabbed me and took us back home in his spirit form. We made it, but he’s not moving.”

“Wait…what? Is he breathing?”

“Yes, but it is very shallow. What am I going to do? Is he going to die? I don’t know if the rings will keep him from dying, since he was not attacked. They mostly work if you are attacked or killed by someone. Not if you use your own powers and become weak.”

He couldn’t die on her.

“Try not to worry. I know it’s hard, but you have to stay calm so we can save him. If he took you in spirit form, he drained himself fully. He could die if he’s not fed. If you don’t know if the ring would keep him alive, I don’t want to take that chance.”

“Blood? Are you talking about blood?”

Logan chuckled. “No, Amanda. Sex. You will have to feed him sexually.”

“Ok, how the hell am I going to do that with him being out?”

“Use your head. Literally. He’s just drained, not dead. Get him aroused and feed his need. I can’t tell you what else to do there, Amanda. It’s up to you. Or you can let him try to rejuvenate. But he could have depleted all of his powers when he traveled in spirit form with you. I’m not being mean when I say this—if you can’t do it, then I will get someone who can. I will not let Cage die.”