Unveil My Heart (Wiccan Haus Book Seven) Read online

  “Hayze, are you listening to me?”

  He forced a smile while burying his disappointment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was looking at you like that.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

  Blaine laughed, a rosy hue spreading across her high cheekbones. “I’m going to hold you to that. So, we have a deal then?”

  “Of course, but only if I can escort you back to your room.”

  The Eve’s Slumber was a night meant for lovers and friends. It was thick comforting blankets spread out throughout the courtyard, soft string music playing in the background by a famous quartet Blaine had never heard of. It was couples cuddling, and friends sitting close, while a trillion stars twinkled overhead, and hundreds of fireflies danced about.

  It was really too bad that Blaine was more than two hours late. She could hear the music playing from her room and could catch a glimpse of a few of the tall white candles bordering the slumber area. Her lateness, however, wasn’t totally her fault.

  After walking her back to her quarters, Hayze was relentless in his need to inspect her room to ensure nothing was hiding in the darkened corners waiting to suck her blood. Once he was satisfied, he’d then turned his attention to her hygiene. He’d made quick work of setting her a steaming bath and then had thoroughly seduced her all over again. They’d made love in the bed, in the tub, and then because he felt it wasn’t sanitary to bathe in the same water, he’d carried her to the shower and they’d made love there as well. No, her tardiness was definitely not her fault. But she was not complaining. She was thoroughly satiated and pleasantly sore.

  Blaine hit the call button for the elevator and tried to adjust the tight-fitting pencil skirt she’d decided to wear. She had thought about throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweater, but in the end had decided that, for tonight at least, sexy was in.

  The shiny metal doors of the elevator opened before her and she stepped in and hit the button for the lobby. She then used the mirrored walls to check the little bit of makeup she had talked herself into putting on. She was not a makeup kind of girl by any means, but every once in a while when the mood hit her, she could be found in a little eyeliner, a touch of eye shadow, and some lip gloss. Blaine tucked her straightened hair behind her ear and blushed at the reflection of the lover’s mark sitting prominently on her neck. The elevator chimed, announcing its arrival and she flipped her hair back over her shoulder so that the mark was covered again.

  The lobby was empty with the exception of Myron, who was standing near the floor to ceiling windows, staring out into the courtyard with a soft smile on her heart-shaped face. It was weird seeing her without her deck of cards, but Blaine figured on a night like tonight even the worst of addictions had to take a backseat.

  “Well, aren’t you glowing?”

  Blaine paused, startled by Myron’s comment. “Excuse me?”

  Myron turned to face her. “That’s a beautiful color on you, love. You should wear it more often.”

  “What?” Blaine toyed with the mauve cowl-neck blouse she’d chosen. “This old thing?” She tugged down on the hip-high split in her skirt. “It’s nothing special.”

  Myron looked her up and down, her eyes resting disappointedly on the black and peach Nike mules Blaine had on. “The color of love, honey, looks absolutely fabulous on you,” she said with a smile and a faux British accent. “I almost didn’t recognize you.” Myron laughed, as she pushed away from the window, her hands brushing carelessly over the name tag pinned to her chest that read, Oswaldo Minx. “I have to say again, it looks damn good on you.”

  “Ah, thanks?” Blaine shuffled her feet, her grip tightening on her cane. She could feel her face heating up, so she turned and made for the exit again. As she turned the corner, Myron’s soft laughter drifted to Blaine, embarrassing her even more.

  Was Myron taunting her? Or was she speaking the truth? Had she and Hayze’s lovemaking made that much of a difference in her demeanor so soon?

  Passing a bronzed circular mirror set over a cherry oak console table, Blaine paused to check her reflection one more time. The minute she did, she was glad she had. Her face was flushed and her hair had to be adjusted over the lover’s mark again.

  “I knew cutting my hair was going to backfire on me,” she mumbled, combing through her hair with her fingers.

  “It’s out of our hands,” a male voice said.

  Blaine searched her surroundings visually. The voice wasn’t close, but it was close enough. She checked to her right and her left, and then noticed the office door at the end of the hall was cracked open. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she turned her attention back to her reflection, hoping to finish quickly and head outside to find Hayze and Nora, who was supposed to be joining them. She and Hayze had bumped into Nora on their way back to her room earlier and had made Nora promise to join them at the Slumber.

  “We can’t sit on our hands and watch him die, Cemil. Holy Goddess, we do more for people we don’t know.”

  “What do you suggest, Sage? You want me to hold him down and make him change his mind? If he’s given up, no amount of wishing, praying or hoping is going to help him.”

  Who are they talking about? Blaine tried to tune them out, but the more she did, the more her heart quickened, and the sweatier her palms grew.

  “We can’t let him die!” Sage’s desperation reached out to Blaine, grasped her heart and twisted it in a rusty vise.

  “We’ve done all we can do,” a pessimistic female voice said. “I’ve gone above and beyond for him already. I won’t be lifting another finger to assist that ingrate. So, Sage, if you want to go act like Mother Teresa, go right ahead. I won’t be here to dry your tears when he melts.”

  “How can you be so cold, Sarka? The Wiccan Haus is here to save people,” Sage pleaded.

  “Yes, but we can’t save those who don’t want to be saved,” Cemil interjected. “He’s given up.”

  “No,” Sage nearly shouted. “He doesn’t know that there’s still hope. If we believe, then maybe—”

  “Maybe nothing,” Sarka snapped. “We’ve done all we can. We allowed him to bring her here. We’ve healed her as much as possible, and we’ve helped him where we could. There’s nothing else for us to do. I expect her to be on the ferry when it leaves and if I have to toss his ass in that portal myself, I will. But both of them will leave Wiccan Haus at the end of the week.” Her tone was final.

  “He’s our friend. He’s not a stranger. Every time we’ve needed him, he’s always been there, no questions asked. When the fog surrounding the island began to dissipate, leaving us vulnerable to prying eyes, he came and strengthened it until we could renew the spell. And Rekkus, no matter what, he’s always had your back. We should do more to help him. We can’t just allow him to—”

  “It’s not up to us, Sage,” Sarka snarled. “If Blaine is truly his mate, then it’s up her to save him. We’ve done our part.”

  Blaine’s heart dropped even as she moved closer to the door. What do I have to do with this? He…who?

  “He’s been without her for going on ninety days.” It was another masculine voice—one she hadn’t heard before. “The weakening has already started. All of his powers are about gone and he’s starting to age.”

  “And we all know that out of all the Paras next to vampires, Anubi age the slowest,” Cemil chimed in.

  The male voice spoke again. “Yeah, but it is because of this deterioration that he believes nothing and no one can save him now.”

  “And Hayze is certain she’s his mate?” Cemil asked.

  Blaine’s heart nearly stopped in her chest. Hayze? No! Her denial was brutal.

  “Yes, he said she bound him to her the night he saved her,” the male voice answered.

  “Then why didn’t the idiot tell her the moment she was cognizant enough to listen, Rekkus?” Cemil spat.

  “I can’t answer that,” Rekkus replied, his tone soft and broken. “But a
s much as I hate to admit it, I can respect his decision not to force her into being with him. No one should ever be forced into a mating of any kind, but…” He was quiet for a long moment before he spoke again. “He’s like a brother to me and like Sage pointed out, there has never been a time when I needed him that he didn’t come through for me. I can’t sit here any longer and watch him literally disintegrate. I’m with Sage. We have to do something.”

  “Jesus, why did Cyrus have to choose now to go into seclusion?” Cemil murmured. “We can’t make someone want to live if he’s already planned and paid for his own funeral.”

  Blaine turned away from their voices. She didn’t want to hear any more. They weren’t really talking about Hayze. They couldn’t be, because he was full of life and he was strong and he could do the impossible. They couldn’t be talking about the man, who had made her let her guard down and admit that she was in love with him in a matter of a few days. No, they couldn’t be talking about him. Not her Hayze. He’d stimulated her mind with hours of conversation, and ravished her body until she was too weak to move. A dying man couldn’t do that.

  “They can’t be talking about Hayze.”

  Blaine wasn’t certain exactly when she started moving, but she found herself standing outside on the steps, staring into the darkness before her. Her heart felt as if it was going to burst and her head was swimming in disbelief. The things the siblings and Rekkus had said couldn’t be true. But how many other women here had been saved by the very person who brought them here? How many of them were named Blaine and how many men were named Hayze?

  It was just her luck. Of all the men on the face of the planet who she could have fallen in love with, she fell for one that was not only not human, but dying?

  Wow, the Fates really out did themselves this time.

  “Damn, if I didn’t know we’d have an audience, I’d take you right here on those steps.”

  Blaine opened eyes she hadn’t known she’d closed. She took Hayze in slowly and compared what she saw to the first time she laid eyes on him. He was still tall, standing about six foot four. His hair still dark as night, but it was now graying slightly at the temples. She couldn’t remember for the life her if those gray strands had been there two days or even two hours earlier. His skin the night she met him had been supple, golden-tanned and wrinkle-free; now at the corners of his mouth and eyes there were slight smile lines and crow’s feet. He furrowed his brow as he watched her and she noticed deep-set wrinkles. Before she would’ve said he was in his mid to late twenties; now he looked to be in his mid to late-thirties.

  She pushed nervously at her hair and stepped back as he closed the distance between them. This couldn’t be. The night she’d first met him, and even before they’d come to the island, Hayze had been heavier somehow, more bulky across his chest and in his arms, but now he appeared thinner—malnourished. And his tattoo. Against the night it had shown as if shiny metals were imbedded within it, but now it looked old and in need of refreshing.

  “Blaine?” His eyes, once filled with life and hope, stared back at her sharing only his vulnerability and defeat.

  A whimper slipped pass Blaine’s lips. “How did I not notice?”

  “Baby, what’s the matter?” His hand moved to his chest and he stepped up onto the lowest step.

  At that exact same moment her heart palpitated and she reached out and grasped the nearest wall to keep from falling. She steadied herself. “From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I had everything about you memorized, Hayze. Your smile, the curve of your chin, the way one side of your mouth curves right before you’re about to say something to soothe me. But how could I not notice you were…” His image blurred from the tears spilling down her cheeks. She wanted to wipe at her eyes, but she couldn’t move. “How could I not notice, Hayze?”

  “Notice what? Why are you crying? Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?”

  Blaine made herself move to wipe her eyes as she stepped away from him. “When were you going to tell me? Was it at any point while you were making love to me? Did you consider telling me you’re dying while I was spilling my guts to you about my losses…my pain?”

  He looked as if she had just slapped him, before he exhaled a breath, his shoulders slumping. “How did you find out?”

  “Does it matter? Why didn’t you tell me yourself? How could you make me fall in love with you, knowing that you were dying, Hayze? How could you do this to me?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this. I had hoped—”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she screamed, the tattered strings of her heart unraveling.

  “I told you I couldn’t promise you tomorrow,” he said, his hands fisted at his sides. “I tried to keep my distance from you. Damn it, I tried to—”

  Blaine’s hand flew back and then forward, connecting with the side of his face. “Liar! You didn’t try!” she shouted. “And to top it off, you’ve given up. How dare you make me love you when you’ve already given up? How dare you?” Blaine hauled off and slapped him again. Somehow she knew if he’d wanted to, he could have stopped her, but he stood there and took it. “You can’t give up,” she cried. “Because—” She stared at him for a long moment as realization dawned on her like a new day. This wasn’t about luck anymore, it was about love. About pushing through the bad and fighting for the good. So much had already been taken from her; she couldn’t give him up without a fight. “If you do, I won’t have anyone.”

  His arms enveloped her, her head cushioned against his chest and her tears soaking through his shirt. “My love, don’t break my heart like this. I breathe for you, Blaine. I would never willfully leave you. If you believe nothing else, please believe this.” He shushed her. “Don’t break my heart like this. Please.”

  Blaine tried to push away from him, but instead she found herself engulfed even deeper into his embrace. “Hold your breath.” His lips covered hers the moment she looked up at him. The ground vanished and the world around them blurred, and the air stirred, engulfing them in a breezy funnel of energy. One second she was, the next she wasn’t, and then everything went black.

  By the grace of Anubis, the moment he got his hands on the moron who had spilled the truth to Blaine, Hayze was going to rip them open from throat to groin slowly.

  The second the ground solidified beneath his feet, Hayze released Blaine and staggered back, trying to catch his breath and right his equilibrium, all at once. He’d never had a problem before using flash step, so he was sure his issues now were due to the breaking down of his body. That would most likely be the last time he used that power ever. Not to mention he’d probably just taken a week off what was left of his life.

  “What did you do?” Blaine asked, clutching the trunk of a large tree. She shook her head a few times to right her equilibrium he was sure. “Where are we? How did we get here?”

  Hayze picked her up and carried her to the jutting rocks bordering the hot springs that served as makeshift benches. “Sit here and take a few deep breaths.”

  She shoved him away. “Answer me, damn it! Where are we and how the hell did we get here?”

  Hayze straightened, rubbed his face, and sighed. “We’re still on the island, but at the opposite end, at the hot spring you were trying to find.”

  Her nostrils flared and eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “How did we get here?”

  “It’s one of the powers we Anubi have, the ability to think of a place and be there with only a thought no matter the distance. Some call it flash-stepping, others call it instant transmission, but it’s something we can only do once in a while, as it takes a lot of energy.” He moved to the bench and sat on the opposite side from her.

  After a long moment of silence, Blaine spoke, her hands fisted in her lap. “So, when were you going to tell me?”

  “I wasn’t. I was hoping to…honestly, I don’t know what I was hoping for. I suppose I didn’t want any of this—not really anyway.”

&n
bsp; She gasped and looked away, but she didn’t say anything more.

  “We’ve talked about a lot of things, Blaine, but we’ve never talked about that night. When I showed up and saw the yazaron mere inches from biting into your flesh, several things happened all at once. You turned your eyes on me and time froze—for me at least, and then you spoke the words that bound my heart and soul to yours. Then my heart, which hadn’t beaten in over three millennia, began to beat again, my lungs, that I once had no need for, drew in air, and my once mundane life now had purpose. You did all those things for me, Blaine. Things only my mate could do.”

  She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you talking about? Your heart didn’t beat? Your lungs had no need for air? Hayze, you’re not making any sense.” She leaned away from him, but didn’t stand.

  “Think back to that night. Think back to the things you’ve witnessed. Damn it, think about all the other things that I’ve told you since we’ve been at Wiccan Haus,” he pleaded. “I have no reason to lie to you.”

  He could see her mind’s eye working, replaying his fight with the yazaron.

  They were in one of the upper levels of a parking garage, near her veterinary clinic, which was ablaze in the distance. Moments earlier, she had witnessed Na-Na and Paula’s murder, and she was lying there seconds from having her own throat ripped out by a vile beast. Yet, in her eyes there had been such life and fight, they had given him pause.

  “Do you remember?”

  Blaine closed her eyes and clenched her hands in her lap as she gave her head two jerky nods. He’d never wanted her to relive that night because though it was a blessing for him because he found her. To her it was a curse, proof in her eyes, that she wasn’t worthy of love, of happiness, and of anything good.

  “That thing, that monster, was like a two-ton truck on me, but you picked it up as if it was nothing and threw it clear to the other end of the garage and through several cement walls. You flew at it, pulled ice crystals out of thin air, and used them as your weapons. It was like something straight out of a movie, but I know it was real. I have the scars, both emotionally and physically to prove it.” Blaine swallowed her emotions as she looked up at him once more. “But, Hayze, how am I your mate? How is that possible?”