Page 93 of Of Blood and Smoke

He sighed. “You forbade it.”

Closing my eyes, I filled my mind with images of Della. Her bright, honey eyes, her long silky hair, and the soft satin of her skin. I held the image of her in the foremost of my thoughts untilI could taste her rich, decadent blood on my tongue. My gums ached, and my cock hardened, as I imagined her in my arms, her tiny form gazing up at me with love and bliss.

As I relaxed against my friend, I let my spirit seek her and felt my soul slowly prying free of the confines of my physical body. My heartbeat relaxed and my consciousness faltered, flickering between awareness of my current location and the pull of the void.

The extensive nets of magic the Ancients had installed throughout the palace grounds were formidable. I could feel the sticky webbing clinging to my aura and probing about, investigating the disturbance, seeking information.

The flower essence my mother had sprinkled over me connected with the filaments, sparking and sizzling, severing the connection in smaller spots. I flung my arms out and with a golden burst of light. I was free.

Della’s body was in one of the guest rooms in a wing of the palace, not far from where my own quarters were. Despite my ethereal form, the bed dipped when I sat beside her. Her figure lay in a tangle of fluffy sheets and her head on a plush pillow. She looked comfortable, snug, and entirely at home.

Waving my hand over her face to read her, I instantly knew she’d been placed under a spell. Magic to keep her as compliant and malleable as possible. There was that, and in addition, her spirit had left her body. She was fully conscious but wandering in the ether somewhere, somewhere I couldn’t reach her.

Her aura, the lemony yellow and gentle peach that breezed around her was nearly non-existent, the color bright right next to her skin but fading rapidly into the distance. Climbing up onto the bed, I stretched over her and licked her neck. The bitter sting of Ezra’s magic seared my tongue, and I spat it out after I sat up. I’d tasted his unique signature in the past, on the bodies of thosesentenced to death while I played with their futile lives, and it was unmistakable.

It was up to me to bring her back. The risk I was taking was great, using what magic I could deep in the confines of the palace, and under the watchful eye of the many sentient curses and spells cast to catch someone just like me. My traitorous actions would be found worthy of my execution.

The blood in my veins thrummed with electricity as I slowly passed my palms over Della’s sleeping form. “Della, Little One,” I beckoned her softly. “Come back. I’m here.”

Her aura flickered lightly; she was so responsive to my presence. Her soul recognized me in some form though she may as well have been a million miles away. I leaned in, pressing my face to the side of her head, and continued to beckon her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her aura brightening, retracting and coming back to her physical body as her soul returned.

I willed her to hurry up, I didn’t know how much time we had. We could be discovered at any moment, an undetectable alarm having been tripped, alerting the Ancients of my illicit plans. Della stirred lightly beneath my ministrations and a low moan sounded from her lips, sending a bolt of desire straight to the base of my spine.

Leaning back down, I nipped at her neck, scratching her lightly and drawing a small, red bead from her luminous skin. I licked it, shuddering as her flavor burst over my tongue. Being a mere shadow of her natural taste, it wouldn’t have the same nutritional effect on me, but I would take whatever I could get, my spirit longing for her.

“Josiah,” she groaned, reaching for me.

“Little One,” I answered, lightly brushing her lips with my own.

Groggily, she sat up. “Why do you call me Little One?”

I pulled her into my arms. “Because you’re tiny and precious.”

“I’m not that small,” she countered. “They told me you needed me but wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

After she filled me in on how she ended up here, I warned her not to allow anyone but me to touch her. As far as I could tell, Ezra had spelled her when he touched her upper back. I could smell him on her and I would’ve loved to cover her with my scent and destroy the foul odor that clung to her in wisps and tendrils. While I didn’t have my full physical form, that was an impossibility because the proper spiritual connection could not be made.

“It was a trick. I’m not certain what they mean to do with you, but I know they have no intention of you leaving the grounds—ever.”

Della sucked in a breath. “They’re gonna kill me?”

“No, I won’t let them, but they don’t bring humans here to let them go. They mean to force me into mating with an elite creature of my own kind.”

I gestured with my hand. “Us? This was never supposed to happen, Della. You’re fully human. There’s not a drop of magic in your blood I could use to justify our union.” I’d told her before that our relationship was forbidden. I just hadn’t expected these consequences; the Collective had smashed the rules to pieces. I had the feeling I was going to have to do the same.

Her big eyes turned up toward me. “Can I get magic somehow?”

Shaking my head, I replied, “It doesn’t work like that. You’re either born into one of the families and it's passed down genetically or you’re not. Sometimes it doesn’t pass down even when you are born with the proper parentage.”

Clasping her hand, I pried her fingers from her palm. Small, half-moon shaped crescents had left red dashes on her skin. “Then what do we do?” she asked.

“I need to get you out of here. I need to get back into my body,” I said. Della’s eyes widened, her eyebrows shooting up. “I left it with Micha, in a pub,” I explained.

She reached for me as she slid off the bed and I froze her limb in place. “Don’t touch my clothing. My mother poisoned it and its lethal in any form.” I released the barrier, allowing her motion again.

Della stood quietly for a moment, staring at me as if seeing me for the first time. “I really need magic. If I get out of this, I’m going to buy some Wicca books and figure this out.”

“I’m going to get you out of here. What I need you to do is stay alive. Don’t let anyone touch you. Pretend to go along with whatever you’re told, cheerfully.”

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