Lana rolled her eyes. "Like I haven't been asking the same thing."
"Yesterday he threatened Lana. Unless I miss my guess that little head cold he gave Christopher was meant to be a great deal more uncomfortable than it turned out to be."
Christopher lifted Lana's hand to his lips. "Thanks to you." He kissed her fingers, loving the soft blush that came over her.
"You're welcome." She took her hand back and resumed her pacing. "But we still don't know what's going on. I could see him trying to seduce me, or take me away for revenge, but murder?"
Christopher studied Lana. His little witch had hit on what had been bothering him since yesterday.
"She's right. Something much bigger is going on here." Christopher reached out and stroked one of the few green leaves left on the plant. "Something Cole is willing to kill for."
* * * *
"I got nothing." Lana sat back in the chair and rubbed wearily at her eyes. Across the kitchen Gareth was talking to someone on the phone, his voice low and urgent. In front of her, the laptop's screen remained depressingly empty of answers.
Christopher handed her a can of soda with a weary sigh. "I've tried scrying, but Cole is blocked.
And divining doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere either." He scrubbed at his face with his free hand. "It doesn't help that most of my equipment is back at my house."
She smiled, opening the can of soda. "Maybe your tarot cards are broke. Want to borrow mine?"
"No thanks." He sat down next to her, casually draping an arm around her shoulders. He gently stroked her hair. "Head hurt?"
Without even thinking about it she leaned into his touch. She'd always loved having her hair played with. "A little."
Grammy came into the kitchen, her phone in her hand. "I've put out feelers among the witches. It's a long shot, but maybe someone in our community has heard of or had dealings with Cole and can give us a clue what he's up to." She joined Lana and Chris at the kitchen table and put the phone down with a sigh. "Any luck?"
Lana shook her head. "Nope."
"Darn."
"I think I might know." Gareth joined them at the table, looking a little wild-eyed. "It seems the king is considering naming his successor."
"And?" Lana took a sip of her Coke.
"Rumor has it one of the people he's considering is a Beckett."
Lana choked. Christopher pounded her gently on the back. "And let me guess who the other person he's considering is."
"A Godwin." Lana sat back with a groan. "Crap. Why focus on Chris, though?"
"Cole has always seen Chris as his greatest competition, but there's no saying that Chris is the Beckett being considered, or that Cole is the Godwin."
"Then that's something we need to confirm." Chris continued stroking her hair, soothing her despite the topic.
"So why go after me? Was it to lure Chris out?" The two men exchanged looks that had every hair on the back of her neck standing on end. "What are you two not telling me?"
"Whoa, look at the time!" Gareth stood and drained his iced tea. "Gotta run! Is there a hotel nearby I can stay at?"
Grammy glared at him and pointed. "Sit." The power in her voice was unmistakable.
Gareth, looking startled, sat abruptly.
"Speak."
"Gareth-" The warning in Chris's voice startled her.
The karmic backlash from forcing Gareth to speak could be bad, but it was too late. Grammy had spoken; therefore Gareth would speak. "Now that Lana has answered the call, Chris's life force is tied to hers. If she dies or ultimately rejects him, Chris will slowly fade away."
Lana's jaw dropped. "Are you telling me if I don't mate with him he'll die?"
Chris winced. "Alannah … "
"It's literally a life-and-death fuck?"
"Alannah!"
It was Lana's turn to wince. "Sorry, Grammy." She turned to Chris and smacked him on the arm.
"When were you going to tell me this?"
He was glaring at Gareth, who looked horrified. "I wasn't."
"Why not?"
He turned his attention back to her, his expression softening. "Because I wanted you to choose me, not my life."
"What if I had said no?"
"You could still say no." His finger brushed over her cheek.
He had to be kidding, right? "God, now my head really hurts." There was no way she could live with herself if Chris died simply because she said no, but she wasn't ready to say yes yet no matter how much his touch made her cream her panties or how good the sex was. They were living in a bubble, but when the real world inserted itself into their lives he'd see he must have made a mistake. No wizard family would tolerate having a witch in it!
He frowned immediately, getting up from the table to find the Tylenol. "Here, take this. You want something to eat?"
The milk, four glasses and a plate of Oreos floated onto the table. "Dig in." Grammy grabbed and cookie and twisted it apart, licking the cream inside. "What?"
It was no use berating her grandmother for using her powers the way she had. Grammy knew the consequences probably better than Lana did. Lana picked up a cookie and bit into it.
Gareth shook his head. "Here, let me." He poured them each a glass of milk, handing them around.
"We have to decide what to do about this before Cole tries again."
"We've neutralized the sickness spell. I doubt he has enough fur to try anything more." Chris dunked his cookie twice before shoving half of it into his mouth.
"And even if he did, Grammy and I spelled the soup to make sure it wouldn't take." The brothers stared at her. "What, you've never heard of preventative medicine?" She swallowed the Tylenol, chasing it with another bite of Oreo. Yum. My kind of medicine.
"I didn't hear you spellcasting."
"You wouldn't have." Grammy took another Oreo. "I don't know exactly how a wizard's magic works, but words aren't always necessary for a witch to cast a spell. It's the symbol they represent, the stated intent behind the spell that's important. Visualization can work wonders, especially when a sick person is involved."
Gareth pointed at Lana, a slow grin crossing his face. "That's why you gave him chicken soup!"
She shrugged and dunked her next cookie. "I told you, it's good for colds."
Chapter Six
Lana woke up the next morning to a feeling of warmth. A heavy arm lay across her stomach, another under her head. She could feel Chris curled up behind her, spooning her, his breath gently stirring her hair.
"Chris?"
A snore was her answer.
"Chris?"
A deep breath huffed out, blowing her bangs into her eyes. She would have reached up and brushed them away but her arm was trapped under his.
"Chris!"
"Huh?" She turned her head to find sleepy gold eyes staring down at her. "Mornin'."
"Why are you in my bed?"
He reached up and brushed her hair away from her eyes. "Because Gareth's sleeping in my bed."
She glared at him. "This isn't Goldilocks."
"Guess I can't call you Teddy then." He snuggled back down, tugging her closer. "Go back to sleep."
"I said separate bedrooms, Chris."
"Yup. I have a bedroom."
She nudged him with her elbow. "Go sleep in it."
"But someone else is sleeping in my bed." He pouted down at her, all sleep rumpled. His voice was full of a sleepy rumble that had her insides melting into aroused goo. It took all of her willpower to keep from pressing her rear back against his hot erection, but after sampling him the other day, it was much harder than she thought.
Mm, much, much harder. She shook her head, trying to get visions of riding him in reverse cowgirl out of her head. "You've never shared a bedroom with your brother before?"
"Bedroom, yes. Bed, no. He hogs the covers and he snores, but the worst part? He tried to snuggle and called me Tammy."
Lana choked. "No way."
Chris shuddered. "Trust me. It was leave or face deflowering."
"Look on the bright side. He didn't call you Tommy while being all cuddly."
Chris whimpered. "Are you trying to break my brain?"
She giggled.
"What time is it?" He rolled over slightly, checking the glowing numbers on the clock. "Six thirty?
You're a morning person?"
She giggled again.
"You can't be a morning person. No way would fate be that cruel."
"Unlike you, I have a boss who expects me at work in the mornings."