Page 5 of Love in the Forest
Chapter Two
Braden stared at a man he loathed.
Conagh the Wizard.
Elegance territory, where wizards, warlocks and witches lived and practiced their arts, didn’t have a lot of full-blown wizards, thank God, less than a hundred. Each was a powerful being far outranking their witch and warlock brethren.
Not all were bad, but of their number at least a dozen that he knew of were vile men, who had tasted of the darkest parts of wizardry magic. Rumors of human sacrifice were just frequent enough, and surrounded by sufficient qualifying detail, to have the resonance of truth.
When he saw Conagh, he growled, and his internal wolf began to pace. He continued to hold Abby’s hand in a tight grip. Above all things he must protect her.
“Why do you want the chalice?” Abby asked.
Something about her question or the tone of her voice made him think she already knew the answer. Maybe she wanted to hear Conagh say it out loud.
His wolf grew still. Why would a wizard want a blood chalice?
The wizard’s eyes grew hooded.
Braden knew that look. Every guilty perp he’d ever arrested as a Border Patrol officer eventually looked just like that, as though their eyelids could disguise their motives for their crimes.
Conagh’s voice seemed to bounce from tree to tree. “I’m willing to pay well for the chalice. Ten thousand.”
Abby responded abruptly. “I’ll take half-a-million.”
It was a smart move. Let’s see just how much the wizard wanted the chalice.
Conagh was known to be one of the wealthiest men in Five Bridges.
Braden didn’t miss the sudden widening of his eyes as though he’d just won the lottery. Yet right after, the same lowering of lids as he countered, “A hundred thousand.”
He was going to bargain when he’d already tipped his hand? Or did he think they were stupid? Probably the latter.
Braden decided to weigh in. “Abby is mistaken. The chalice isn’t hers to sell. It’s mine by right of appropriation.”
Conagh turned his gaze on Braden and in a swift, soul-encompassing wave, he felt magic sweep over him. Nausea hit him hard, then he felt weak like nothing he’d known before.
He fell to his knees, releasing Abby’s hand at the same time.
Conagh was on him instantly, pounding on the top of his head with both fists. Braden could do nothing. He couldn’t move to help himself. Couldn’t lift even a finger.
Then suddenly it was over, and the weakness left him.
He stood up abruptly and saw why. Abby was on Conagh’s back and had her fangs in his neck. Conagh was whipping her this way then that, but she held on.
Wizards could kill vampires with a touch of their fingers. But once a vampire had control with a bite, the wizard was helpless.
He watched Abby start taking his blood and in stages the wizard grew very still and dull-eyed.
Braden sensed, however, that something was wrong. For one thing, he could still feel the wizard’s magic pulsing around the clearing in the forest.
He’s using his magic, Abby. He’s not in a trance.
I know. Can you take him out?
I’ll try.
Braden shifted to wolf and let his animal have full reign. He lunged at Conagh’s exposed abdomen and bit hard.
