seemed I had no choice unless I could turn off my emotions and turn my back on the people I cared about. The irony of the situation was very clear.
It looked like Thomas Borathen would get to see me off to Colombia after all.
Chapter 5
Elyssa gripped me in a fierce hug. "It'll be okay. I know you hate it when my dad bosses you around. I'll talk with him and work something out."
I kissed her on her lovely forehead and forced a grin. "I know, babe. I know."
Someone cleared their throat. I turned and saw Bella tapping her foot impatiently.
"We should practice more before you run off, young man." She motioned me back over.
Elyssa nodded. "We're going to need every advantage if what Christian says is true."
"I'll be more of a liability than an asset if I have to rely on magic," I said with a groan. Hard to believe, at one point, I'd wanted to learn magic so badly. But after finding out I couldn't wave a wand, say a silly word, and defeat practitioners of the dark arts, some of the—ahem—magic had gone out of learning.
Bella made me sit down in a chair and resume my meditations. Instead of meditating, I found myself thinking about Elyssa. I sensed her hot, welcoming presence nearby, thanks to my incubus sixth sense. We'd made love for the first time in a dingy hotel room just a week ago. Talk about magic. I sent out a questing tendril of incubus essence and found the halo of her aura feet away. She seemed amused with my academic efforts.
I tapped against her halo. She flinched, and for a moment, her defenses sprang up reflexively, cold and impersonal. Then she realized it was me and opened up, even more amused than before. But beneath the surface of her amusement simmered love, spiced with a bit of lust. My demon senses burned with desire to dive right in. But if I did it without tempering my mood, Elyssa and I might get more than we bargained for. I sure as heck didn't want us to rip each other's clothes off in front of Bella.
Easing back on the throttle, I evened out my emotions, trying to match her amusement, rather than the lust.
"Do you feel anything yet, Justin?" Bella said, seemingly from somewhere far off as I concentrated.
Oh, I felt something all right. I felt a grin spread across my face and quickly tightened my mouth so as not to give myself away. With my incubus senses extended, I could taste some of Bella's emotions, namely frustration and concern. She really cared about me and was worried sick about my abilities. A wave of guilt came over me. Here I was, screwing around while she was dedicating time and energy toward helping me.
Easing back on the emotional throttle, I started slowly withdrawing my senses, trying to focus instead on the magical energy in the air around me. The thread of my essence abruptly tingled in a way it never had before. The feeling was so alien, it shocked me out of my trance and my eyes jolted open.
"What is it?" Bella asked.
"I felt something weird."
"Describe it."
I shrugged. "I dunno. All tingly. It made me feel funny."
"Funny?" She took a seat across from me, gaze intense.
"Well, not funny like when someone touches you in your no-no place, but—"
"Justin, be serious."
I sighed. "Let me see if I can find it again." I closed my eyes and breathed deep. Nothing happened for what seemed an eternity. I realized whatever I'd done had been with my incubus senses extended, so I pushed it out in different directions. Still, nothing happened. Setting aside the emotions emanating from Elyssa and Bella, I forced back my own frustration and probed for the strange sensation again.
All of my senses tingled with such abruptness, I yelped and jerked back. My chair fell over backwards with me in it. Bella leaned down, her violet eyes laughing at me though her mouth held a firm line. She offered a hand and pulled me up with dhampyric strength that belied her petite frame.
"I think you've found the magic," she said, a note of triumph in her voice.
"Did you really?" Elyssa said, eyes wide with delight.
I grinned. "That's magic? It feels nothing like when it's trapped in a circle."
"How does it feel?" Elyssa said. "All I feel when I'm in a circle is pressure in my ears."