Page 61 of Handcuffs and Hexes

“Lies!” He backhanded me.

I reeled back from the impact and gritted my teeth through the sting.

“Expose your magic.”

What an ass! Demanding a woman “expose” anything was just plain wrong.

“Chief thinks my talent is inherent magic nullification. That was my grandfather’s talent.”

“Impossible! That’s completely useless as a talent. And I watched as magic traveled from you to Seth. Iwillaccess your powers.”

Did he mean when we were standing with him? That wasn’tmymagic, was it? It was Seth’s! Or maybe it was ours, I thought, thinking of how strong the lights around us had shimmered when we made love.

Ha! As if this asshole knew what love was.

There was a loud knocking upstairs, and a woman’s voice shouted down, “Samuel, there are cops at the door.”

“Ignore them, and do not open that basement door again,” Samuel bellowed.

“Yes, sir,”

Was that a maid? Or the mistress?

But my thoughts were cut off when he touched me again. This time, it wasn’t just the feeling of having the happiness sucked out of me; there was a searing pain too. I howled.

When the echos faded, I was barely conscious. The world swam around me and I struggled to stay awake. Something in my subconscious told me I had to hold on, that if I passed out now, I might never wake. Might never see Seth and Liam again!

And Chief. And Mike. Even Eugene and Tommy. I’d come to Darlington without any family or friends, but I knew in that moment why my grandparents had added the clause that I hadto live in the house for at least five years. Here in Darlington, I’d found a life I never thought I’d have. And with it came two wonderful men.

No! I had to hang on. I wasn’t ready to give up yet. Not when I’d just found Seth and Liam. I didn’t know what my future with them held, but I knew it would be good.

But the light in the room dimmed, and with it, my hold on the world. No matter how hard I tried to grasp at the threads of reality, everything started to fade.

It was the loud rattling shaking the entire house that gave me the jolt needed to escape the dark arms of death.

“The fuck?” Samuel shouted. “My wards!”

There was no response unless you counted the stomping of boots across his floor. Several doors slammed open, and a specialized police tactical unit marched in. Samuel pulled me over to use me as a shield.

The last to enter the room was Chief Henderson. And Seth!

“Daddy dear, your wards are getting awfully weak.”

“You! Get out of my house.” He looked around at the team. “I demand to see the warrant.”

“A warrant?” Chief chortled. “You are under arrest for the kidnapping of an officer.”

“How dare you!” Samuel waved his hand, directing his magic at the chief, but nothing happened.

“That’s your magic?” Seth cackled, sounding straight up like the bad guy. “I can snuff it out like a candle.”

As Samuel asked for his lawyer and was put into magic-proof cuffs, probably enhanced by Seth, one of the members of the task force came to untie me, and I realized it was Liam.

Damn! He looked good in the uniform! Even in my barely conscious state, I could appreciate the view.

Chief extended a hand, and I tried to take it, but nothing worked. When I tried again, I slumped over instead, falling out of my chair. Concrete rose up to meet me.

“What’s wrong with her?” Chief asked, catching me before I smashed my head on the floor.

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