“Oh, Jordan,” Beth breathed.
“We agreed to some ground rules to keep the bond from growing. No touching and only spending time together when we absolutely have to. It was easy at first because I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him.
“And then Bastien put that new spell on us and we were stuck together for days.” I inhaled deeply. “It’s hard to be around someone that much and not talk. We got to know each other, but it never got physical between us. And outside of training, we hardly talk since we came back here.”
Sara and Beth exchanged a glance I couldn’t decipher.
“What’s that look for?” I asked.
Sara hesitated before she answered me. “Are you sure Hamid doesn’t want the bond?”
“Yes. He told me so himself back in L.A.”
“Back when the bond was brand new,” Beth said. “But you two have spent a lot of time together since then and gotten closer. He might not be around much, but I’ve seen you guys in the gym. It’s like there is no one in the world but the two of you.”
I laughed at what she was implying. “We love to spar, and he enjoys teaching me new stuff. That’s all it is. Like I told you, we got to know each other and decided we didn’t hate each other after all. But he doesn’t want a mate any more than I do. Trust me on that.”
“And the rage?” Sara asked.
I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve. “We both knew the bond would grow no matter what we did to slow it down. All I can say is he acted like any bonded male would in such an extreme situation.”
Neither of my friends was convinced. They were looking at this as happily bonded females, and they could only see the romantic side of bonding with the happy ending. But that wasn’t for everyone.
I ignored the tiny pang of longing in my chest. “Anyway, that’s all of it. I’m sorry I lied to you guys, but it’s not something I wanted to talk about.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” Sara’s green eyes were full of compassion. “Bonding is very personal, and you don’t have to explain your feelings to anyone.”
“But if you want to share, that’s what we’re here for,” Beth added. “Especially for the juicy stuff.”
I snorted indelicately. “What happened to the girl who used to blush when I brought up sex?”
“She mated the sexiest man alive,” she replied with a lusty sigh.
Not quite the sexiest. Chris was hot, but Hamid was in a league of his own. And that wasn’t the bond talking. I’d known it since the first moment I saw the fierce warrior with the intense blue eyes and the sexy scowl. No man before or after had measured up to him. It depressed me to think that no one ever would.
Chapter 12
“I thought we were done with the tests,” I said as I settled into one of the chairs in the conference room a day later.
Orias sat in front of me, his expression that of an adult who was tired of explaining something to a child. “I don’t recall you complaining this much when we first met.”
“That’s because I wasn’t being used as a lab rat back then,” I retorted. “It took me days to recover from all those magic tests at Westhorne.”
He placed his hands on either side of my face. “This one won’t take long. We need to make sure your brush with death didn’t weaken the spell.”
Resentment flared in me. “God forbid anything should happen to your spell. I’d hate to inconvenience you all with my death.”
“I would be a little put out if you left us.” Amusement flickered in his eyes. “You’re entertaining for a lab rat.”
Bastien chuckled, and I glared across the table at him. I still hadn’t forgiven him for that binding spell he’d put on Hamid and me.
Orias started chanting, and I felt magic crawl across my skin. It was a test he’d performed daily at Westhorne so I was used to it, but I still hated it. I closed my eyes and counted down the seconds until it was over.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the rest of the team had entered the room and taken seats around the table. Ciro wasn’t among them, so I asked where he was.
“He went to Atlanta to check in on his protégé,” Orias said as he pushed his chair back and faced the table.
“You guys have protégés?” There was a lot I didn’t know about warlocks, but they seemed to prefer working alone most of the time. I couldn’t imagine Orias being a mentor to anyone.
It was Bastien who answered me. “It takes years of training and guidance to master our spells, and to summon the right demons to enhance our power. Once we reach our full power, we take on apprentices, usually one at a time. I recently took on a new one.”
I looked at Orias. “What about you? Do you have one?”
“Not at the moment. I’m having more fun with you,” he said dryly.
“Funny guy.”
My Mori fluttered, letting me know Hamid was approaching. I looked up as he entered the room, and his eyes briefly met mine as he walked around the table to sit on my other side. The last time I’d been this close to him was when I was in the ward, and my body warmed now at his nearness.
I wasn’t allowed to do anything strenuous for the next few days, which meant no working out. I couldn’t decide if I was more bummed about not being able to spar or not being able to spar with him.
“How do you feel?” he asked in a low voice.
I turned slightly toward him. “All better. Just waiting to get my strength back.”
He studied my face as if he wasn’t sure I was being honest. He knew me well enough by now to know I’d say just about anything to stay out of the medical ward.
He looked satisfied by what he saw. “Are you eating enough to help build up your strength?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Don’t worry. Sara has that covered. She’s been feeding me nonstop.”
“Good.”
Charlotte spoke, pulling our attention to her. “Before we start the meeting, I want to say how happy we are to see you’ve recovered from your injuries, Jordan.”
“Thanks.” I started to stand. “I’ll get out of here so you can have your meeting.”
Charlotte smiled. “You’re welcome to stay. This investigation affects you as much as anyone else.”
I paused, halfway out of my chair. I’d never been included in their meetings, outside of the tests, and I’d been happy to stay away from anything to do with the Council. But I was interested in the outcome of this one, and honestly, I was bored out of my mind just hanging around the command center.
“Okay.” I sank back into my chair.
The first ten minutes of the meeting was spent discussing my health, or actually the health of the spell. Orias informed us my close call hadn’t weakened the spell. On the contrary, it looked a little stronger than the last time he’d checked it a week ago.
I wondered if anyone else was thinking the same thing I was. If my bond with Hamid was part of the spell, then any strengthening of our bond should theoretically strengthen the spell. I kept my musings to myself. I was not going to discuss my bond with a bunch of warlocks and scholars as if it was just another part of this investigation. Plus, they might get it into their heads next that completing the bond would make the spell unbreakable and keep the barrier safe.
That thought led to a rather X-rated one about how Hamid and I would complete the bond. I shifted in my chair as I tried to put the image from my mind. Ever since that night in the shower, I’d been having these fantasies, each one more graphic than the last. To make matters worse, I couldn’t even find relief for all this pent-up sexual tension, because the thought of touching another male repulsed me.
Thanks for nothing, demon.
Solmi, it grumbled resentfully. At least, I wasn’t the only unhappy one. Misery loves company and all that.
“The only demon with enough power to open the barrier is an archdemon,” said Marie, yanking me from my thoughts.
Bastien clasped his hands on the table. “Impossible. If there was an archdemon on this side of the barrier, we would know it.”
An involuntary shudder went through me. An upper demon was powerful, but an archdemon was virtually indestructible. In its physical form, an archdemon was said to be impervious to earthly weapons, and not even a faerie could kill one of them. The only weapon that could destroy an archdemon was an archangel’s sword, and I didn’t see any angels walking around here.
I raised a hand to get their attention. “Could an archdemon have opened the barrier first from the other side and come through it?”
Charlotte shook her head. “The barrier can only be opened from this side.”
“How do you know that for sure?” I asked.
“It was created that way,” she replied. “The original breach only happened because someone on this side opened the barrier.”
“If an archdemon could open the barrier from their side, they would have done so long before now,” Orias explained.
“True.” I thought back to my demon studies and realized we’d only scratched the surface of that subject in school. It was no wonder our scholars dedicated their lives to it, because it would take a lifetime to understand it all.
“The only way a demon can cross the barrier without opening it is through a summoning, but that leaves them without a body,” I said more to myself than anyone else. “If the summoning is done incorrectly, the demon could possess the warlock, and that would give them a body.”
“To an extent,” Orias said, interrupting my thoughts. “The human body could house the demon, but the demon wouldn’t have all its strength and power without its own body.”
“Would it be strong enough to open the barrier?” I pressed.
Bastien’s smile was patronizing. “An upper demon cannot open the barrier.”
I rested my arms on the table and leaned in. “What would happen if a warlock summoned an archdemon?”
All chatter around the table stopped, and everyone stared at me as if I’d started speaking in tongues.
Orias cleared his throat. “No warlock would attempt such a thing. It would be suicide.”
“Our spells can control an upper demon, but containing an archdemon would be like trying to stop a volcano from erupting,” Bastien said. “It cannot be done.”
I looked from Bastien to Orias. “You’re saying a warlock wouldn’t try to summon one, not that they couldn’t do it.”
Orias pursed his lips. “It takes a very complex and powerful spell to summon an upper demon and bring it through the barrier. Using that same spell to summon an archdemon would be like a human sitting in a rubber dinghy and trying to catch a great white shark with a fishing rod. If they somehow managed to hook it, they wouldn’t be strong enough to reel it in.”
“What if the shark decided it wanted to come to the boat?” I asked.