Destiny Bewitched (5 page)

She smiled when he
walked closer. “Where did –”

A bone! He held it out
toward her. A femur…or something. Oh Lord, was she really going to
do this?

For Nikki, for Nikki, for
Nikki
.

She grimaced but took
the bone from his hand. At least it was old and other than a little
dirt, there didn’t appear to be any blood or guts stuck to it. She
resisted the urge to upchuck and asked, in a tight voice, “Do you
have a lighter?”

He nodded and pulled
one out of his pack. She held it to the end of the bone.

Closing her eyes, she
chanted,
“This bone
is strong, burn bright and,
um
, long. I give power to thee, through this tunnel
let us see.”

Magic rose up from her
toes. Tingly warmth spread through her veins. It settled in her
chest – the familiar feeling of comfort made her smile. With a
push, she forced it down her arm to the fingers holding the
lighter. She opened her eyes, lit the lighter, and with a burst
that made her yelp, it ignited the bone in a fiery blast.

“Whoa!” She turned her
head away from the heat until it settled down into a passable
torch. Satisfaction burned in her chest and she grinned.

“Well done, witch.”
Instead of disappointment, Geo looked at her with pride.

She raised her chin.
“I’m not without some power.” Though compared to most witches, her
skill level was intermediate at best.

“How long will it
last?”

“Through the whole
tunnel,” she said smiling.
I think.

He nodded and held out
his hand. “Give me the lighter. I’ll put it back in my pack.”

She dropped it in his
hand and as soon as it touched his skin, it came to life, a tall
flame bursting out the top.

“Ow!” Geo dumped the
thing on the ground. The flame went out when it hit the dirt. He
cradled his burnt hand. “What was that?”

“Sorry.”

He pursed his lips.
“Explain.”

“Um.” She cringed. “My
magic is somewhat…unpredictable.”

His sigh was
disheartening.

“I can heal it for you.
I know several spells that –”

“No!” He flinched
back.

She frowned. Great. She
was so unstable she scared the big, bad demon. Maybe she should
take it as a compliment.

“I mean, no thank you.
Look.” He held out his burnt hand. “It’s healing already.” At her
sad nod, his eyes softened and he added, “You’re obviously very
talented, but we can’t afford any setbacks.”

Yeah, yeah, quit
fucking up. Story of my life.

Scooping up the now
harmless lighter, he looked at her again. “Stay silent and don’t
touch anything.”

Geo led the way through
the tunnel with the torch in his hand –
her
torch. She was starting to feel
like the helpless damsel again.

“How do you know the
way out?” she asked, louder than she’d meant.

He tossed her a sharp
look over his shoulder. “Shh! Trust.”

She rolled her eyes.
“Trust me,” she muttered irritably. “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll only
burn the skin off your shoulders then force you straight into the
home of a mutant worm bent on making you his breakfast.”

“Lunch.”

She snapped her head
up. “What?”

“It’s lunchtime, not
breakfast.” He was laughing at her again.

Childish, but she had
the urge to whack him over the head with something hard.
Where’s a femur bone
when you need one?
She sighed. Well, he did save her life.
More than once. She’d have ended up a werewolf pack gang bang if it
weren’t for him. Had she thanked him for that?

“Geo?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. For saving
me.”

His shoulders
stiffened. “It wasn’t selfless. But you’re welcome.”

Right. He needed her as
much as she needed him. Everything he did was for his own purpose.
She would do well to remember that.

They walked in silence
for a long time and the air chilled with each passing hour,
signaling night had fallen on the Underworld. She dared a glance
around her. The torch lit up the walls and ceiling of the tunnel.
On her left, a centipede the length of her arm scurried down the
wall. Above her, what looked like an earthworm that had swallowed a
glow stick stood out against a shadowy crevice. She quickened her
pace to follow only inches behind Geo. With a shudder she forced
her gaze to the back of his shirt.

Don’t look. Pretend
it’s not there. Maybe it’ll all go away.

She looked up and
another glowing worm peered back at her, as if to say “what’s your
problem, bitch?”

Ugh.

Geo stumbled when she
stepped on his heel. He looked back at her with his brows
raised.

“Sorry,” she
muttered.

“You’re not scared of a
few bugs, are you?”

A witch? Scared of
bugs? Unheard of. Bugs and reptiles made up most of their potions.
They could even invoke certain animal spirits for spells. Witches
embraced all forms of life – anything that Mother Earth created was
theirs to use. Except for Samantha. Part of being a Blackthorn.

“Yes, you’re stuck with
the one witch squeamish about bugs. Deal with it.”

“Ah, now they won’t
hurt you if you don’t bother them.”

“I’ve heard that
before.” When she’d been stung by a bee. Then again, a few years
later, just before she’d been bitten by fire ants. Was it any
wonder she hated them?

And now she was
traveling through a giant worm tunnel feeling a lot like the
too-stupid-to-live girl in a B-grade horror film. Cue the spooky
spider music.

A distant rumble
sounded from behind them and a sprinkling of dirt fell from the
ceiling. She covered her head with her arms, spun around, and came
face-to-face with a –

“Ahh!” The bugs on the
walls scrambled away from her scream. The monstrous spider, six
inches from her face, climbed back up its web.

Geo growled from behind
her. A thundering roar came from the darkness. The tunnel shook.
More dirt rained down from the ceiling. The ground trembled and the
rumbling grew closer.

With a sharp glare, he
grabbed Samantha around the waist and unsheathed his sword.

Why weren’t they
running? “Geo?”

“When I tell you to,
take a deep breath and hold it.”

What!

The ground shook so
hard it was difficult to stay standing. Sand and dirt and bugs fell
down all around them. The thundering grew closer. Geo squared his
shoulders and faced the direction of the noise.

Closer it came.

Oh no. No, no, no,
no.

She fought to get out
of his grip. Her heart raced and a sinking feeling rose in her
belly. Geo only held her tighter and stared into the deep black
tunnel. She was in a panic now.

Then it stopped. It was
silent except for her beating heart and Geo’s steady breaths. He
shoved the torch forward and lit up the area in front of them. A
centipede crawled across the ground. She startled when something
moved above them but it was just that damned spider making its way
to the ceiling. Beyond the few yards lit up by the fire, it was
pure black.

They waited.

A soft plop behind them
made her gasp. She looked over her shoulder. An oversized beetle
had fallen to the floor.

She turned back around.
Geo narrowed his eyes, staring into the darkness. Was it over? “Um
–”

He stiffened. “Hold
your breath!”

A loud
whoosh
swept through the
tunnel like an airplane taking off.

It came out of nowhere
– a giant red toothless mouth, wide open. She screamed then they
were inside.

Swimming. Suffocating
in goo. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. Just fought her way
through the jelly vacuum. Geo’s arm remained unyielding around her
as she felt him thrust and stab with the sword. Her lungs burned.
She couldn’t tell up from down. She kicked and flailed in a panic.
Her head spun and just when she thought she’d pass out, the worm
exploded and they poured to the ground in a fountain of blood.

She was alive.

On her hands and knees,
she sucked in a deep breath then blew worm goo out her nose and
mouth. It stank like death. She gagged once then vomited the
contents of her stomach. With a groan, she fell forward onto her
elbows, resting her head on her hands.

“I
fucking
hate
this place,” she hissed
through her teeth.

The torch was out and
the tunnel pitch black. Something moved beside her.

“Geo?”

“I’m here.” The flame
from the lighter stood out against the darkness then the torch came
to life, casting a dull light around them. Blood spattered the
tunnel walls and ceiling. Pieces of worm goo dripped down onto the
bloody ground.
Well,
what’s a horror movie without a few gallons of blood?

Geo looked down at her,
his skin and clothing dyed dark red. But he stood straight like a
pillar of strength, his expression fierce, and muscles bulging. How
could a man possibly look sexy covered in worm guts? Meanwhile, she
looked like the crazy chick from the movie
Carrie
. It just wasn’t fair.

And how did he make the
torch? Her one contribution proved null.

He held out his hand.
“Come on. I smell water. Hopefully there’s somewhere to clean
up.”

She rose to her aching
feet without his help then got a closer look at his torch. He’d
tied a piece of fabric around the end of the bone.

He noticed her gaze and
said, with a small smile, “Apparently worm guts are flammable.”

She couldn’t help
herself. She laughed. It sounded hysterical, but she didn’t care.
She laughed hard, holding her cramping stomach.

Geo arched a brow. “You
done?”

Her chuckles faded.
“Yes.”

They started through
the dark tunnel once more.

“Why aren’t you yelling
at me?” Samantha asked as they trudged through the bits of dead
worm littering the floor.

He looked at her,
puzzled. “Why would I yell at you?”

“For screaming. It was
my fault we got eaten by that…thing.”

“I never yell.” Geo’s
ability to remain level-headed was what got him his position in
Ares’ army. And it was probably the only reason he wasn’t in hell
right now. A translucent spider with blue veins scurried across his
shoe. Ah, he may not be in Hades, but he was in hell alright.

“You never yell?” She
snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

He couldn’t resist
teasing her. “It wasn’t entirely your fault. You’re a girl. I
should’ve known you’d scream like one when you saw a spider.”

Just as he’d expected,
she huffed. “That’s insulting.”

“But it’s true, isn’t
it?”

He chuckled softly when
she didn’t answer.

Five silent minutes
later she asked, in a curious voice, “You really don’t yell?”

His half-brothers had
goaded him for that very thing. Pushing him to provoke his temper.
His mother called him
do̱ri̱tí̱ eirí̱ni
– peace giver. “Yelling is an
expression of anger. Anger is a good thing in small amounts. It
spurs change. But getting angry over something I can’t change is
pointless. And I’m not one to waste my time doing something for
nothing.”

She grew silent again.
It made him wonder what she’d expected him to do. A lecture and a
beating? He’d killed men, but he’d never struck a woman and he
certainly didn’t plan to start now – no matter how frustrating a
certain witch was becoming.

The smell of water grew
closer. Finally, they stepped out of the dark tunnel and into a
wide circular opening. Above them, fire bugs covered the ceiling,
creating a warm glow over a natural spring.

Samantha squealed with
delight when she saw it. She ran forward then stopped and turned to
him. “Is it safe?”

He didn’t sense danger.
The cavern was empty aside from the fire bugs and a few other
insects. The water smelled fresh and clean. “Yes, but be careful. I
don’t know how deep it is.”

Her bright smile
rivaled the sun and his heart clenched. She dropped her satchel and
sword on the ground and walked straight into the water – shoes,
clothing, and all.

“It’s warm,” she said
gleefully.

“Go slow.”

“I will.”

Turning his back on
her, he went in search of kindling for a fire.

Once he had a decent
fire going, he emptied his pack. He laid the blanket on the ground
and placed the clay pot with leftover stew onto the fire. Then he
retrieved what he knew would be the way into the woman’s heart. Not
that he wanted her heart. But he sure did like to see her
smile.

He stripped off his
clothing, grabbed his little gift then waded into the water.

Samantha turned toward
him then gasped and spun back around. “Could you warn a girl?”

He chuckled at her
modesty. She’d have to get over that. He only had one clean shirt
for her to wear tonight.

“Don’t come over
here!”

In the dim light he
could see her near-naked form facing the cavern wall. Pink bra
straps blended into her peachy skin.

“I have a gift.”

“I’m just sure you
do.”

Well, yes, he had that
kind of gift too. “Sam. You’ll want this one.”

She turned her head to
look over her shoulder, curiosity written on her face. He held out
the bar of soap.

She gasped and spun to
face him fully. “Oh my God, I could kiss you!”

To his surprise, she
flung her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his lips.
He’d forgotten how soft a woman’s lips were. And she tasted like
the sugar candy his mother gave him as a boy.

His arms itched to wrap
around her, pull her closer, but she broke away too fast. She
stepped back, a big grin stretched across her face. He fought to
keep his gaze from her breasts.