The Forbidden Read online

  10

  Someone is here.

  Silver’s jaw tightened, hair prickling at her nape. Before she could demand that the being show itself, a man stepped from a shadowed corner of the shop.

  The D’Danann.

  Or was it?

  Silver narrowed her eyes. She splayed her fingers on the polished wood countertop, prepared to use her gray witchcraft to do whatever was necessary to protect herself and Cassia, no matter the cost.

  He moved toward her slowly, his stride lithe and smooth. When soft lighting touched his features she saw that yes, it was Hawk of the D’Danann, but without his wings. The man’s eyes were warm amber, and his expression concerned. A measure of relief eased through her.

  This man—this being—was in full control of himself, it was obvious. His shoulders were broad, his chest muscular, his stride confident. He wore a sleeveless leather shirt with the ties hanging loosely at the neck.

  His arms bulged with power and his boot steps sounded loud and purposeful against the shop’s wooden flooring. He wore all black leather, and a sword and dagger sheathed his sides. His hair brushed his shoulders, and stubble darkened his rough features.

  And those golden-amber eyes. They focused on her, mesmerizing her, trapping her. Instinctively she realized this was a man who knew no fear. She didn’t understand it, but her heart told her he was proud, arrogant, perhaps reckless ... but honest and loyal.

  “Hawk.” She tried a smile. “You returned.”

  He gave a deep nod. “As I assured you I would.” The heavily accented words rolled over his tongue, sounding almost Gaelic, which would make sense considering the D’Danann had driven the Fomorii from Ireland.

  “I don’t suppose any more of you just happened to show up.” Silver pushed the heavy fall of her hair away from her face in frustration. “These demons are running loose in the city, and I have no help.”

  He stepped forward and rested his hand on one of hers and an electric feeling tingled through her body that had nothing to do with fear, just like that touch in the alleyway that had sent her senses reeling. “I am here,” he said.

  “I can’t believe there’s only one of you.” Just the contact of his palm against her hand was enough to unnerve her, so she moved her hand from beneath his. “How can just one of you help save us?”

  “There are others. We are Enforcers, an elite group of D’Danann warriors,” Hawk said quietly. “More will come. It is what we do.”

  “But your race is neutrally aligned.” Silver braced her hands on the countertop again, only to have Hawk capture one beneath his palm a second time, as if he needed the contact. “How do we even know your Chieftains will choose to serve our side?”

  “We will learn their decision if—when—you perform another summoning.” Hawk squeezed her hand tightly. “But I believe the D’Danann will come to the aid of the D’Anu. We are all children of the goddess.”

  She pulled her hand from beneath his again and rubbed her palm along the silver snake bracelet, seeking some kind of comfort. The snake’s tail rested on the back of her hand while its body and head crawled up her wrist. As she rubbed the snake, its amber eyes glowed.

  A tickling feeling prickled at the back of Silver’s neck.

  Her heart pounded like ritual drums. A wave of cold swept over her body. She raised her hands.

  Hinges creaked on the back door and warding bells jangled.

  From her side vision, she saw Hawk draw his sword from its sheath, the scrape of metal against leather loud in the stillness of the shop.

  His features tightened into a grim line. “What is it?” he asked in a low tone.

  A shadow flickered across the opposite wall. Hair on Silver’s nape rose and her fingertips sparked.

  A tiny, dark figure darted around a rack of robes—

  Silver’s fingertips sizzled brighter until she saw the little furry figure.

  Spirit. Rhiannon’s mischievous cat.

  By the Ancestors.

  Silver relaxed with relief, but was tempted to blast the familiar just for scaring the spells out of her.

  She wanted to blast Hawk, too, when the corner of his mouth twitched into a grin.

  “Stupid cat.” She wheeled and marched from the café’s counter to the closed door and flung it open. She strode inside the kitchen, leaving the cat and the man behind her.

  Cassia was withdrawing a pan from the oven. The warm smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies enveloped Silver. Her stomach growled, which only heightened her irritability at being scared spell-less by Rhiannon’s devil of a familiar.

  At the thought of Rhiannon, Silver’s gut twisted, and her anger multiplied. She would give anything to have her friend here. She would gladly trade places with Rhiannon so her friend would be safe and sound.

  “Did you distribute the potion at all the windows and doors?” Silver asked Cassia, knowing that had been impossible considering the apprentice hadn’t been out of the kitchen.

  Cassia frowned as she placed the pan of cookies on a cooling rack. She flushed, her cheeks a glowing red. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Trying to hold her temper, Silver placed one hand on her hip and made a sweeping gesture with her other arm. “What could be more pressing than protecting—”

  Hawk bumped Silver’s shoulder as he strode past her. Cassia’s jaw dropped.

  “Mind if I have one?” he asked, reaching for one of the saucer-sized cookies. The heat of the pan or the cookie didn’t seem to bother him as he scooped one up.

  Silver’s irritation over the warding failure eased when she saw the witch’s distress. She moved to Cassia’s side and put an arm around her shoulders. “This is Hawk of the D’Danann.” She glanced up at the man. “Hawk, this is Cassia.”

  Cassia’s eyes grew wide. “You truly summoned them?”

  Hawk held the gooey cookie in his big hand and glanced hungrily at it.

  Silver waved her fingers. “Go ahead.”

  The D’Danann sighed in obvious bliss as he took a bite. “These were not around the last time I was on Earth.”

  Silver couldn’t help a little smile at the boyish look on his face. For such a big, strong warrior, part of him was like a little kid.

  “Spirit?” Cassia glanced down at the cat who must have followed Hawk.

  The cat hissed as it stared at Cassia’s skirts. It arched its back and scampered up the stairs at the rear of the kitchen. Silver frowned as the cocoa-colored cat disappeared from sight.

  Mortimer peeked out of Cassia’s pocket and this time Silver laughed. Looked like the little familiar could more than take care of himself.

  Silver turned back to Hawk. He had one hip against the counter with a half-eaten cookie in his big hand—his third already—a smudge of chocolate on his lower lip. Silver had the sudden desire to lick the chocolate off, and she had to mentally shake the thought away. Hawk stuffed the rest of the chocolate chip cookie into his mouth, looking utterly blissful as he devoured it.

  “How did you get in?” she asked.

  Hawk shrugged one large shoulder. “The back door was unlocked. I locked it behind me to ensure we wouldn’t be disturbed.” He frowned. “I don’t understand how that cat entered with the door secured.”

  “Spirit has his ways. He’s like a ghost.” Silver brushed that question aside, more concerned that Eric had left the door unlocked. How could he do that when he knew they were in danger? They all needed to rise above carelessness and normal mistakes.

  Hawk was now licking chocolate from his fingers. Silver blinked. All six of the giant cookies were gone.

  Great. She had one hulking bird-man with a thing for chocolate chip cookies, and he was her only hope for battling the Fomorii.

  Silver barely heard Cassia chattering about something. The smudge of chocolate was still on Hawk’s lower lip. She found herself moving toward him as if bespelled. She brought her fingers to his mouth and rubbed the chocolate away. His lips were firm, yet soft, and a thrill
shot to her belly.

  Hawk’s eyes darkened to a deep shade of amber. Hunger flared in his gaze, and certainly not for more cookies.

  When she realized what she was doing, her cheeks heated and she took a step back. “You had some chocolate...”

  Something about him called out to her. Intense. Fiery. Magical.

  She took a deep breath. I’m losing my mind. Yup. Definitely losing it.

  He gave her a slow, sensual grin.

  Before Silver could bind his lips shut with a simple little spell she’d practiced, the door to the kitchen opened.

  Hawk whirled, drawing his sword in the same motion. Silver’s hands automatically raised and her fingertips sparked.

  But the moment she saw it was Jake Macgregor, her muscles went limp with relief and her fingertips no longer sizzled. Hadn’t they locked that door, too? Were they all losing their minds?

  In the next moment, Jake had drawn his gun and had it trained on Hawk. “Put down your weapon,” Jake ordered. “Silver, step away from him.”

  “Hold on.” Silver pushed her way past Hawk and stood between the two men, in the line of fire, facing Jake. “It’s all right. He’s a—a friend.”

  “Who in the name of the gods is this bastard?” Hawk growled behind her.

  Silver marched up to Jake and brought his gun arm down with a tug of her hands on his wrist. “He’s here to help me, okay?”

  Still eyeing Hawk with suspicion, Jake lowered his gun and holstered it.

  Silver whirled on Hawk. “Put that thing away.”

  Hawk’s glare never wavered from Jake, but he sheathed his sword.

  “Men.” Silver moved around Jake and shut the kitchen door behind him and this time made sure it was locked before coming around to look from the face of one man to the other. “Jake, this is Hawk. Hawk, this is Jake.” She gestured to Cassia who stood behind Hawk. “You both know Cassia.”

  “I’m so glad to see you.” Silver turned to Jake, meeting his blue eyes. He was in full PSF gear, the heavy vest, black pants stuffed into black boots, and cap making him look as sexy as usual. “Thanks for coming.”

  Jake frowned. “On the phone you sounded like something serious was going down.” He folded his arms across his chest and studied Silver. “You’d better explain.”

  “I’ll just go ward the doors and windows now,” Cassia said as she snatched up several bottles of warding potion. She dropped one that clattered on the tiled floor and quickly picked it up before escaping into the shop.

  While Hawk and Jake continually traded suspicious glances, Silver did her best to explain about the Fomorii and what had happened to the witches and warlocks. It wasn’t easy telling him the whole frightening story, and her gut twisted when she told Jake about her Coven members being rounded up by the demons.

  When she got to the part about her returning to Janis’s home this morning, alone, to retrieve her cauldron and meeting up with the demon, both men cursed. They each grumbled about her going off on dangerous errands by herself. She ignored them and continued speaking.

  “We’ve been through a lot, Silver,” Jake said when she finished her story. “But this is hard to swallow.”

  “You have to believe me.” She laid her hand on his arm and searched his blue eyes. “The Fomorii can shift into anyone. They could take over the body of a businessman, a military official, or a cop for that matter. You just don’t know.”

  “Believe it,” came Cassia’s voice as she entered the kitchen again. “We lost everyone but the two of us and Eric.”

  “It does not matter if you believe.” Hawk’s brogue was low, controlled, powerful as he spoke, and Silver shivered despite herself. “We do not need your assistance, human.”

  Jake focused on Hawk. “What do you have to do with all of this?”

  “All right.” Silver put her hand to her forehead. “Show him, Hawk.”

  Hawk’s amber eyes flashed with anger as he met Silver’s, but she didn’t flinch. “Show him that you are D’Danann.”

  The cop’s hand moved toward his gun as a scowling Hawk pushed his chair back and stood at the center of the kitchen. Silver had to squeeze Jake’s arm to make him relax. “Hawk is one of the D’Danann warriors I told you about. He’s from Otherworld.”

  Hawk’s arms crossed his chest while he stared at Jake. That sound of popping bone jarred Silver’s teeth as Hawk’s ebony-feathered wings slowly unfolded through his shirt, to their beautiful and full appearance.

  “Holy shit.” Jake’s jaw dropped. “How the hell did he do that?”

  “He can fly for you, if you need more proof,” Silver said.

  Hawk turned his glare on her. “I will not.” With a mere thought, he folded his wings away, causing them to disappear again. “This human either believes or does not. It matters not to me.”

  Jake scowled and got to his feet so that he was facing Hawk, but he glanced to Silver, his words obviously intended for her. “Where and when do we start?”

  “Soon. I’m not sure where to begin just yet.” Silver stood, moved near Jake, and reached up to kiss his cheek. “I appreciate your help.”

  When Silver kissed Jake, Hawk wanted to kill the bastard and be done with it. Such incredible jealousy blazed through him that he almost couldn’t see straight.

  At the same time he wondered why he should care. But for some foolish reason he did. He’d had one mate, and he would never love another. So why this jealousy?

  “There are so few of us,” Silver was saying. “I don’t know if guns have any effect on them, but—”

  “When are we moving out?” Jake said, ignoring Hawk.

  Silver rubbed her temples with her fingers. “I don’t even know where they are.” Her gaze shot to Hawk’s. “Do you?”

  “No. I was unable to locate them last night.” He was furious the damnable beasts had evaded him. “They must be cloaked by sorcery.”

  “Great.” She looked back to Jake. “I’ll try scrying with my cauldron again. I’ll get in contact with you when we’re ready. Okay?”

  A muscle in his cheek twitched. “You call me the minute you set out after these bastards. Got it?”

  Cassia piped up from where she was pouring warding potion along a windowsill. “I’ll make sure.”

  Silver squeezed Jake’s arm once more, and Hawk wanted to kill him all over again. “I promise,” she said with a half-smile.

  She let Jake’s arm slip away as he moved toward the door. Jake nodded to Silver before he unlocked the door, opened it, and walked out, shutting it with a solid thunk behind him.

  Silver braced her hands on her hips and stared at the closed door. “Jake is one of the best.”

  “A human will only hinder us.” Hawk’s expression was one of irritation. “They have no magic, no powers.”

  Cassia moved to another kitchen window and poured warding potion along the sill. “We can use all the help we can get.”

  Hawk and Silver faced off with each other for a solid minute while Cassia locked the back door and warded the threshold with potion.

  At that moment, the way he was looking at her made her tingle from her scalp to her toes. Damn, but he was sexy.

  The telephone rang, jarring Silver, bringing her back to reality.

  “I’ll get it.” Cassia dodged around Silver and Hawk, grabbed the phone, and punched “on” before Silver had a chance to fully shake herself from Hawk’s mental hold.

  That was it—he was using some kind of power to enchant her. To make her want him so badly the world seemed to slip away. It wasn’t that he was devastatingly handsome. No. It was something more.

  Everything came crashing back to reality as Cassia said, “Silver. It’s your father.”

  Talk about a dousing of cold water. Nothing could cure a good case of lust faster than being told her father was on the line.

  Her eyes snapped from Hawk to Cassia. She took a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, and made it across the tiled floor to where Cassia held the portable phone.
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  Silver took the handset from the apprentice. She clenched the phone so tightly she thought the plastic would crack in her hand. She covered the mouthpiece so her father wouldn’t hear. “Don’t forget the extra warding with the potion at all the windows and doors upstairs. Oh, and remember to mop the store’s and the kitchen’s floors with it.”

  Cassia nodded. “Right away.”

  Silver gave Hawk a fierce look. “You—don’t go away. We need to talk.”

  Without another backward glance, Silver brought the phone to her ear and began walking up the stairs to her apartment.

  As Silver left the kitchen, Hawk watched her gracefully mount the stairs. While he studied her, he focused on the way she looked right now. She was simply exquisite. Her hair drifted over her shoulders and down her back, and he could imagine how the silk of it would feel caressing his chest. The tilt of her eyes and the elegant shape of her face reminded him of the Mystwalker women in Otherworld. Her scent lingered, of lilies and a moonlit night.

  Silver’s silk blouse pulled against her breasts as she brought the phone to her ear. Her skirt was so short he was tempted to tilt his head just right to see what she wore under it, like a besotted young warrior might. Her shoes clicked on the stairs, the high heels making her legs look even longer and sexier.

  She murmured a low, “Hi, Father.”

  Immediately, garbled noise of what sounded like a tirade spewed from the phone. Silver sighed, then disappeared from Hawk’s view as she climbed higher.

  He clenched his fists at the thought of anyone speaking to Silver in such a manner, but he knew he had no right to interfere. His job was to fight and protect people in need.

  So long as it was the natural order of things.

  With the exception of Davina, such feelings of fierce protection and possession over a woman from any of the Otherworlds had never before happened to him. Yet he had the overpowering desire to keep Silver safe.

  Hawk folded his arms across his chest and turned his focus on Cassia, who busied herself by putting a double warding on the threshold and the windows. She had blonde curls and eyes of such an intense turquoise shade they seemed almost Otherworldly. And she had an air of innocence that he didn’t quite believe. His senses told him she was...different. That she was cloaking who or what she really was.