Cate Tiernan - The Calling

Of course he does, I told myself. He’s just not as obvious about it as Cal was.

Feeling suddenly sad, I pulled my jacket tighter. Above us white stars blazed through a clear black night. The moon was gone, dropped somewhere behind the Manhattan skyline.

“Cold?” Hunter asked, pulling me against him.

“I’m not so sure I want to go to that club again,” I told him. “The amount of magick flying around was almost too much.”

“It was intense, that’s true. But it’s good to be exposed to lots of magick, coming from lots of sources. Besides just increasing your general knowledge, it will help you to recognize and deal with dark magick. Which, as you know, is especially important for you.”

I felt my chest tighten. We’d already talked about this more than once—about the fact that Selene had been part of a larger conspiracy, that her death probably didn’t mean I was safe from other members of her coven or from other factions altogether. I’m going to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, I thought bleakly.

Hunter pulled me to a stop under a streetlight. It cast harsh shadows on the planes of his face, making his cheekbones look razor sharp. “Don’t worry,” he said gently. “I’m looking after you. And you can look after yourself pretty well, too, you know. Besides, if Amyranth knows about you at all, they’ll know you’re high on the council’s radar right now.”

I thought of Killian. “Maybe I need to learn the art of magickal disguise.”

“That’s the least of it.” Hunter frowned at me. “Why are you so eager to be casting glamors, anyway? I could see it in your eyes tonight. They went round with envy when Killian did his little parlor trick.”

“It’s not just envy,” I said, thinking it through aloud. “It’s knowing that I have the power to be like those other witches, except I don’t know how to use it. It’s like being given the key to this fabulous palace and seeing all these gorgeous rooms lit up inside but not knowing how to get the key into the lock.”

“Is that bad?” he asked. “You’ve only been practicing magick for two and a half months. And learning to wield magick properly is a lifetime’s work.”

Oh Goddess, how sick I was of hearing that! I started walking again.

Hunter reached out, caught my arm, and pulled me toward him. “Morgan. You know that I want you to be able to put that key in the lock, don’t you? I’m not trying to keep you out of the palace. I want you to come fully into your power, to be able to use every bit of magick in you.” His fingertips stroked my face, and I felt myself moving toward him. “I just don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt in the process.”

“I know,” I breathed as he gently lowered his head to mine. Then his arms wrapped around me and our mouths met and I felt all the tension of the evening melt away. I opened myself to Hunter, and it was like a river of sapphire light poured into me, like he was washing me in his magick and his love. I felt my own heart open and my power moving, streaming through my body, twining with his. It felt like that spot on the Manhattan sidewalk was the center of the universe and the night and all its stars spun out from us. In that moment, in that place, I had no doubts, no insecurities.

Love, I thought. The ultimate magick.

Hunter and I were the last ones to get back to the apartment. Inside we found Robbie in the kitchen, emptying a bag of popcorn into a bowl, Bree taking sheets and blankets from the linen closet, and Sky and Raven standing at opposite ends of the living room. Mr. Warren was nowhere in sight.

Robbie consulted his watch as I hung up my jacket. “Where have you two been?” he asked, sounding like a disapproving parent.

“We…got a little lost,” Hunter said, flashing me a quick, secret smile that made my cold cheeks turn a shade more pink.

Raven grabbed a handful of popcorn. “So, where’s everyone sleeping?” she asked.

No one answered. Sky stared out the window, Robbie concentrated on the popcorn, and Bree murmured something about pillowcases and returned to the linen closet.

Hunter’s green eyes locked on me, and I found myself looking away, unaccountably shy all over again. Was it possible that we’d actually wind up in the same bed? Even if we did, I was fairly sure no one was going to be doing much fooling around—the apartment was just too cramped. I was secretly relieved. I wasn’t quite ready for that. But my heart was pounding at the thought of sleeping with some part of my body touching Hunter’s. I longed to be with him for a few peaceful hours without the confusion of consciousness. I longed to wake up in his arms.

I wondered what Bree and Robbie wanted to do. They seemed to be getting along now, but I wasn’t about to discount what Bree had said in the market.

Bree, holding an armful of linens, cleared her throat. “Well, the living room couch folds out to a double bed. The bed in the guest room is a trundle bed, so it has another mattress under it, and there’s a couch in the study.” She flashed an overly bright smile that proved she felt every bit as nervous as I did.

Raven made an impatient noise. “Let’s get it over with already. How do you want to split it up?”

Again no one answered. Finally Hunter spoke up. “The way I see it, Mr. Warren’s being kind enough to host us. Whatever we do shouldn’t upset him.”

Bree’s eyes lingered on Robbie with a mix of desire and regret. “I’m not sure my dad would notice if we mixed it up,” she admitted, “but it’s probably a good idea not to find out. Better to keep the girls and guys separate.”

I tried not to look disappointed and told myself that Bree and Hunter were right.

“Robbie and I can take the study,” Hunter volunteered.

Robbie walked over to the pile of luggage in the living room and picked up his pack and a small green stuff sack. “Air mattress,” he explained.

“Morgan and I can take the guest room,” Bree said. “That’s the room I usually sleep in when I come down here, anyway.”

“Sounds good,” I said, surprised and pleased that Bree had chosen me for her roommate.

“That means Sky and I have the living room,” Raven said.

Sky said, “I think I’ll go out for a walk. Don’t wait up for me.”

Raven stared at her in disbelief. “Oh, come on! I can’t believe you’re still upset. I was just flirting with him. It was harmless.”

“That’s not how I saw it,” Sky said, her voice tight.

Raven made a face. “Oh, Jesus.”

“Look, we’ll just rearrange,” Hunter said, sounding weary. “Robbie and I can share the foldout in the living room. Sky can have the study.”

“And where does that leave me?” Raven demanded, one hand on her hip.

Bree took the air mattress from Robbie. “You can sleep in the guest room with me and Morgan,” she said. “Really, it will be totally comfortable.”

“Brilliant,” said Hunter. “Then everybody’s happy.”

I don’t think anyone actually believed that, but we all went off to our agreed-upon quarters.

For the next fifteen minutes Bree and Raven and I worked on inflating the air mattress and getting sheets and blankets on all three beds. I was fighting a sense of crashing disappointment. How did my romantic getaway with Hunter turn into a sleepover with the girls?

Bree grabbed a robe from behind the door and announced she was going to take a shower, leaving me in the guest room with Raven. I pulled my nightgown out of my pack. It was a simple white cotton gown cut straight across the chest with skinny ribbon shoulder straps. Actually, it was Mary K.’s; she had loaned it to me. I didn’t even own a nightgown.

“You want to wear this,” Mary K. had assured me. “Trust me, Hunter will love it.”