Archer. And I found myself craving it.
He was my in. No one else at the Taurus would speak to me. Not the dancers, the other bouncers, or even the bartenders who administered the magic from the vials in the back rooms. No one. I didn’t know if that was J.C.’s edict, or Archers.
One night, J.C. finally came to me holding a sparkling red vile. My breath caught. Fire magic. The other elements were easy to take. Well, not easy. Rose Kilgore’s pain haunted me. But those magics felt foreign. They weren’t mine. This was. This came from a witch who had connected to the Source the same way I did.
“J.C.,” Archer said, seeing the vial at the same time I did.
“Give me your wrist, pet,” J.C. said, ignoring him. “This might sting a bit.”
“No,” Archer said, growling. “Give her wind if you have to. She’s not ready for fire.”
“I am,” I said. I put a hand on Archer’s arm. He bristled. A vision flashed as I remembered what his arms felt like around me. It had just been that one time. A momentary lapse in judgment. J.C.’s borrowed magic didn’t affect me, but Archer’s presence sure did.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I can handle it. I’ve handled everything else. I need a kick.”
Heart pounding, I turned my wrist, exposing a vein for J.C.
“That’s a good girl,” he said. He drew the plunger and injected the fire magic straight into me. My whole arm went numb for an instant. My magic rose up. I took a breath to still it. J.C. stared hard at me. Would this kill me?
I let just the tiniest hint of my own fire rise to the surface. Lightning skittered over my shoulders. I let out a gasp, making him think I’d reached an orgasmic high. Just a touch of fire. I knew my eyes would turn gold for a moment.
“Very nice,” J.C. said. “Why, I think fire suits you, pet. Let’s see what you can do with that tonight.”
I couldn’t see her. The fire mage they’d harvested for this drug wasn’t strong. The stuff was barely more potent than salt water. Either the stuff was so diluted as to be worthless, or the mage they’d taken it from wasn’t purebred. I wanted to think it meant they couldn’t catch a true fire mage. That we were far too strong. Though I knew that wasn’t fair. Rose Kilgore hadn’t been weak. Nothing she did brought her fate on. She’d been unlucky. Tragic. But not at fault.
“Good,” J.C. said. “I want to see some spice out of you tonight. Show the people out there how tasty fire can be. I want them lined up around the block.”
Archer got between J.C. and me. He led me out to the dance cage and stayed on the platform right behind me the whole night. I played my part. I gave J.C. and the others the show that they wanted. But I found myself dancing for Archer.
A tiny vein popped out near his eye. He gripped the railing above me. For a moment, I thought he might crush it. A few times during the night, a wild patron tried to climb up to me. Archer pushed them back. There were angry shouts. Broken bottles. But nothing got out of hand. Just enough chaos to serve J.C.’s purpose. By the end of my set, he had a hundred people lining up for a sample of what was in the red vial.
When my last song ended, Archer threw a heavy cloak around me and pulled me against him.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said. He led me through the shifting hallways and back to my room. It had been a few hours since J.C. gave me his so-called hit of fire magic. Long enough I could pretend it had worn off.
“I’m fine,” I said, slipping out of Archer’s cloak. “You don’t have to hover.”
“If I didn’t hover, you’d be…” He didn’t finish. He started to leave, but I grabbed his arm, pulling him back over the threshold.
“Don’t go,” I said. “Not yet.”
His eyes flashed. He said nothing, but followed me into my room. I shut the door.
“Who was she?” I asked.
“Who was who?”
I turned my wrist. My skin was still red where J.C. had injected me.
“Where did J.C. get ahold of a fire mage?” I asked.
“Where does he get ahold of them,” Archer said, dismissive.
“Do you help him?” I asked. It kind of spilled out of my mouth. I found myself praying he’d answer