Lost in Magic (Night Shadows Book 4) Read online

  At his question she looked away. “Not really,” she said quietly. “Just that I seemed malnourished, which is silly, but that’s what they said.” She looked back at him and shrugged. “Maybe I ate some bad seafood last night.”

  Judging from her reaction, and lack of panic, Mick suspected she wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to her. What she remembered she likely chalked up to a dream or a nightmare. And most people were happier leaving it that way. So he smiled and said, “Sorry, I just figured Jude would ask. Thank you.”

  Amanda thanked them for their efforts, even offering to buy them dinner, and Mick politely refused the invitation before leading Ali from the infirmary. He texted Jude from the hallway, his other hand wrapped around Allison’s.

  There was a vampire—or perhaps there were multiple vampires—aboard the Euphoria. They were all sitting ducks if he didn’t do something. But he himself wasn’t in much of a position to fight back with his limited resources.

  “Mick?” Allison asked as the elevator doors closed behind them, leaving them alone in the box. “You seem tense. And quiet. What’s wrong?”

  The woman had amazing intuition.

  He offered her a weak smile and tightened his hand around hers. “Honestly, Ali, I wish I could lie about this. But I think there’s something I need to tell you. Just not here.”

  She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. “Then where?”

  “My room,” he said. “Or yours. Whichever is more comfortable for you. Just somewhere we won’t be interrupted.” He didn’t relish having to tell her anything at all about his job. But then again, he was surprisingly attracted to her for how briefly he’d known her. Did he really think he could just walk away when the boat docked back in Baltimore?

  No, he didn’t. So he might as well bite the bullet while it was relevant.

  And I’ll probably lose her immediately after. But such was the risk of his life. Anyone he wanted to be serious with he had to also be honest with, and his brand of honesty was often near impossible for most people to swallow.

  ****

  Ali breathed a sigh of relief when they made it all the way back to her room without running into Warner. She was on-edge enough with the way Mick had been behaving since their encounter with Mrs. Michaels. Something was obviously wrong and it scared her to try and think of what.

  Then again, how bad could it be? Unless vampires liked to be trapped on boats she figured she already knew it could be worse. That was something.

  But what if he has someone— No, Mick wasn’t that kind of man. She felt certain of it. So it had to be something else. And there was only one way to find out what.

  “Okay,” she said once the door was shut and she’d stepped from her sandals. “What’s this important thing we need to talk about?”

  Mick studied her for a beat, released a breath, and dragged a hand down his face. He couldn’t have made it more obvious how badly he didn’t want to have this conversation. And that worried her. “Sit, please,” he said finally as he claimed a seat for himself on the sofa. He patted the cushion beside him.

  Allison hesitated. “Mick,” she started, “what’s going on?”

  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and said, “This will be a lot to take in, Ali. You might not even believe me, but please know I wouldn’t be mentioning this stuff if it wasn’t relevant.”

  Allison felt her stomach clench apprehensively. She took the seat beside Mick and rested her palm lightly over his bicep. “I’ve come to terms with some pretty crazy things,” she said, a flare of guilt in her chest. Maybe the things she knew were things she should share, too. Didn’t everyone have a right to know what kind of dangers lived among them? She refrained from voicing those thoughts, though. “I can take it,” she offered instead.

  He met her gaze for a long, silent moment. She could see in his eyes he still hadn’t figured out the best way to say whatever he had to say.

  Please don’t let me be wrong about him.

  Before that fear could take hold, however, he opened his mouth.

  “There’s something dangerous on this boat, Ali,” he said. “I knew it as soon as I saw Mrs. Michaels. Did you notice a wound on her neck?”

  Allison blinked up at him. Wound on her neck…? No, she didn’t recall anything like that. But she hadn’t been looking for an injury. Ali frowned. “She said she hadn’t been feeling well.”

  Mick inclined his head and took her hand in his. “And she probably isn’t,” he agreed. “But I don’t think she fully remembers the real reason. It happens a lot, actually. When something crazy happens, and it happens so fast, the brain usually thinks of it like a strange dream.”

  Thoroughly confused now, Allison said, “Mick, you’re talking around something. I’m a big girl, you can tell me whatever it is.”

  His throat worked on a swallow, he tightened his hold on her hands, and finally uttered a word she wasn’t expecting. “Vampires.”

  Chapter Nine

  “What?” Allison reared back, inadvertently jerking her hand from his, as that deplorable word rang in her ears.

  Mick refused to look away. “There’s at least one vampire on this boat,” he said.

  Allison stood and began pacing in front of the couch. “No,” she said without looking at him. “No, there can’t be any vampires on this ship.”

  “Ali,” Mick began, his tone gentle and patient, “I know it’s hard to swallow—”

  “No,” Allison repeated, stopping and locking a hard stare on him. “You don’t understand.” She could feel the emotions boiling up inside her now. The shock of the word was wearing off. Mick—somehow—believed there was a vampire on board the Euphoria. How was she supposed to deal with that? The first prickling sting of hot tears behind her eyes spurred her tongue into motion. “There can’t be vampires here. There can’t. I can’t handle that.”

  Mick’s eyes narrowed with thought. Realization dawned in his green orbs and he pushed to his feet, calmly stepping into her personal space. “Ali … you already know they exist, don’t you?” He phrased it like a question but he clearly already knew the answer.

  One tear slipped free. “Yes.”

  Mandy’s crippled, decimated body filled her mind’s line of sight for a long, terrible minute. It hadn’t helped that Jude’s mother’s name was Amanda, too. And now another Amanda had been victimized by a vampire practically right under her nose.

  Allison swallowed as many of the tears as she could. “I came on this trip,” she said, her voice wavering, “to get away from that insanity.”

  Mick’s frown softened and he pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered. He stroked one hand up and down her spine slowly, gently. “Trust me, I wish this wasn’t happening. I wish I could just promise it won’t get any closer to you.”

  She dragged in a ragged breath and wound her arms around his torso, another couple of tears leaking from her eyes. I wish those things, too. But she didn’t think such wishes would ever be grantable, not for her. So she put her efforts into remembering what else Mick had said. On why he’d felt the need to tell her about vampires. Which raised several questions—a few of which even helped to dim the memories playing through her head.

  Though she suspected most of that dimming was the fault of the man holding her so tightly.

  She didn’t know, and ultimately it didn’t matter, how long it was before she found her voice again. She was just grateful that the bulk of the tears had subsided. “Are you sure,” she asked slowly, inhaling a deep breath of Mick’s earthy scent, “about the bite mark?”

  Mick pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and her heart warmed. “Unfortunately, yes. There’s no mistaking it.”

  Easing back in order to look him in the eye again, Ali asked, “How are you sure? How do you know about this stuff?” She’d had the distinct impression—because she’d been told as much—that the supernatural stuff was a kind of secret. Most people definitely did not know this kind of thi
ng.

  Something strange flickered behind the green of his eyes and he attempted a tight smile. Or maybe he was going for grimace. “It’s my job,” he said.

  Ali blinked up at him for a long second. His job? The same job he’d earlier complained about? The one that didn’t believe in vacation time?

  Mick took her by the hand and guided her to the couch. “I’ll explain,” he said. “But it’ll be easier if I have an idea of what you already know.” He claimed his previous seat, encouraging her to do the same, and cautiously asked, “You don’t have to tell me details, but, how do you know about vampires? What else are you aware of?”

  Her stomach rolled. Else? Come to think of it, she recalled Veronica having mentioned werewolves. In the surreal, crazy kind of way it even made sense that werewolves might be real, too. They were always associated together, after all. “Um,” she began articulately, “werewolves are a thing, right? I think I was told that.” She swallowed and tightened her grip of his hand, lacing her fingers with his. “I met … some vampires. I lost my closest friends to them a little under a year ago.” The tears were threatening again.

  ****

  Mick ground his teeth and held tightly to Ali’s shaking hand as she answered his questions. It was as obvious that she didn’t want to rehash the details as it was that she was still raw inside from them. And he hated it. Hated seeing this kind of pain and fear on her beautiful face. Less than a year ago? He’d been in, or on his way, to California, then. I should’ve been in Baltimore.

  But the Baltimore Family was considered “safe”, as far as vampires went. They didn’t cause chaos or drop bodies like flies. They blended wherever they could. Mick had never been stationed near them, never been tasked with observing the area like he had in California. He didn’t know the details or when or why things might have gone awry. But now he wished he did. He hadn’t known Allison back when her friends had died and, realistically, he might not have been anywhere nearby in time to save them even if he’d been in the area. He just wished he could do something to ease this pain she was so clearly suffering from.

  But she was fighting it, too. She swallowed back all but one of her next round of tears and eventually found her voice again. “After … after Mandy’s death, that’s when I learned about vampires. That’s when I met one.” Another pause, another swallow. “But I don’t know much. Vampires survive on blood, they’re immortal, and I suppose some aren’t evil.” Another tear escaped and Mick stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. “And werewolves are real. I guess.”

  So she really didn’t know a whole lot. She hadn’t said a word about Slayers or, more importantly, witches.

  “I’m sorry, Ali,” Mick said, keeping his voice soft. He reached out and brushed his thumb along her cheek to wipe away her tear. “If I thought I could get us out of this without having to talk about vampires, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

  She sniffled and curled her fingers around his. She even managed a small, grateful smile. He loved the way even that tiny gesture lit up her face. “It’s okay,” she said. “I would rather know about the risk. I just wish it weren’t a risk at all.”

  “Yeah, so do I,” he said. Because he had no clue how he was supposed to find, let alone stop, a vampire on a crowded cruise ship.

  “Do you think,” Allison began, her voice softer again, “that this vampire is responsible for the missing woman, too?”

  “I’m sure of it,” Mick replied. “Given the timing of the attacks, I’d wager there are at least two vamps on board. Otherwise the attack on Amanda Michaels was just for fun. And while some vampires are arrogant sons of bitches, they aren’t often that stupid.”

  Allison released a breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Okay,” she said. “Your turn. I’m confused, because you said this is your job somehow? Are you some kind of vampire hunter or something?”

  He allowed the corners of his lips to lift in a small smirk. “We call those Slayers, actually,” he said. “And no. Although if we could find one on board that’d be useful.”

  “Slayers,” Ali repeated. She scrunched her lips in an adorable gesture that thoroughly distracted him. This was not the time to be thinking about kissing, let alone what that kissing could—at least earlier—have led to. Fortunately she didn’t pause too long before speaking again. “Isn’t there a nicer word for that? Slayers sound bad.”

  Mick offered a small shrug. “Some are,” he admitted. And he wondered, knowing the truth of that statement, why it was so hard for him to accept that the reverse could be true for werewolves. Or vampires, he supposed. If people can be both, can’t the supernatural be both? In hindsight that made far too much sense.

  “But you’re not one,” Ali said, pulling him again back to the moment. “Not a Slayer.” She paused and sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re, um, not a werewolf, are you?”

  Mick stared at her. A werewolf? It took a moment of focused effort to keep from laughing. He schooled his face into nothing more than a hopefully encouraging smile. “No,” he said. “I’m human, I just—” Crap. Not everyone considered witches human, actually. Not even all witches.

  “Just what?”

  Swallowing his sudden nerves, Mick locked his gaze with hers and said, “I’m a witch.”

  It was Ali’s turn to pause for a prolonged moment. Her beautiful hazel eyes went wide and she may have held her breath for a second or two too long. Her nostrils flared on a heavy intake of breath and, finally, she said, “You’re a what?”

  “Excuse this interruption,” the ship Captain’s disembodied voice declared, crackling to life through the ship’s intercom system once again.

  Ali jumped in her seat. Mick turned a frown toward the phone base on the nightstand, as if he would be able to see the Captain if he stared hard enough.

  “Some of you may have heard by now,” the Captain continued, “but unfortunately one of our passengers has gone missing. If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Miss Stacey Shepard, please immediately contact the nearest security officer. Until such time as Miss Shepard is found, I’m afraid we cannot make port at our destination. We’ve dropped anchor and will remain at this location through the night. If Miss Shepard is not found by morning we will have no choice but to turn about and return to Baltimore.” There was a brief pause before the Captain added, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

  Click.

  Allison slid up to his side and leaned her head on his shoulder, her hand still tangled with his. “So much for a nice, vampire-free, once-in-a-lifetime vacation.”

  “I don’t know,” Mick said, the corners of his lips kicking up in a teasing grin. “This one has its perks.” He gave her hand a squeeze for emphasis.

  She brought her other hand up, over the back of his, and trailed her fingers lightly over his skin. “So you’re a witch,” she mumbled, as if she were thinking out loud. Her fingers stalled. “Don’t you mean ‘warlock’ or ‘wizard’ or something? Isn’t witch feminine?”

  Chapter Ten

  Mick bit back his laughter and opted instead to let his cheek rest against her temple. “In popular culture, yes, but in our culture a person with magic is a witch regardless of gender. Although it’s possible that actually stems from the fact that the majority of the first witches were female, according to legend.”

  “Mick,” Allison said, “I’m confused and a little emotional right now. What does you being a witch mean?”

  He got the distinct impression her question had more than one meaning.

  Sobering at her reminder, Mick gave her hand a squeeze. “It means I have powers and certain kinds of connections. I’m still human in every way that counts. I age like you, I bleed like you, and I feel like you. I don’t have special senses, with one very specific exception.”

  This seemed to pique her interest, because she lifted her head and looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes. “Exception?”

  “Earth,” he replied. “Witch magic is element based. My e
lement is earth. Dirt, plants—that kind of thing.” It was a lot more complicated than that, but she didn’t need the particulars. This wasn’t the time for a lesson in magic culture.

  She watched him for a second, as if processing his words, and then her lips finally lifted with amusement. “Earth is your element,” she said, “and you’re on a cruise?”

  He grinned. “Would you think to look for me here?”

  “No,” she said. “I suppose not.” Ali leaned forward and teased his lips with hers. “What do we do next?”

  Oh, he had all sorts of answers for that question. Some far less responsible than others. “That’s up to you,” he said. “What do you want to do?”

  Ali pulled her hands from his and framed his jaw between her palms. With their noses practically touching she whispered, “Give me something good to think about. Take my mind away from here.”

  Hell.

  There was no way he could ignore that request, responsibilities be damned.

  Mick wound his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, much the way they’d been before Jude’s untimely interruption earlier. He claimed her mouth in a demanding kiss, letting his desire for her show. He felt like he’d been waiting years to have her in his arms. When she moaned against his lips and adjusted herself until she was straddling him again he nearly growled.

  He buried one hand in her soft hair, clamped the other over her ass, and slid his tongue along hers. She responded by rocking her hips into his, holding his face to hers with both hands.

  “Tell me you have condoms,” she whispered between wet, open-mouthed kisses.

  Mick rolled his erection over her center, teasing, and said, “Enough for tonight.” With the way he felt in that moment, though, the small box he’d packed didn’t seem adequate. He could plow through his supply in one, maybe two, days. If they could get that much time uninterrupted. But he knew better than to get his hopes up for that.

  Allison released his face, and his lips, and leaned back. Her hazel gaze locked with his, her chest heaving gloriously, and he watched as she pulled her shirt over her head. Revealing an ivory bra made mostly of lace and a smooth, tantalizing stomach. His mouth watered and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.