A Cold Day in Spell Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  A Cold Day in Spell

  ReGina Welling

  Erin Lynn

  COPYRIGHT NOTICE

  © 2018 ReGina Welling, Erin Lynn

  All Rights Reserved, worldwide.

  No part of this book or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials.

  Prologue

  My eyes slid right over the dead zone that contained the house on the corner.

  That was a lie.

  I looked because I knew the man who lived there would be leaving for work and I could get a glimpse of him.

  From somewhere inside the prison my goddess had constructed—to keep my heart protected, she claimed—my soul fluttered like a butterfly in a jar.

  The goddess’s gaze merely passed over my ex-boyfriend, Kin, without the barest hint of interest, even though I knew there was no way she could have misunderstood my reaction to his presence. If there wasn’t a flashing heart symbol hovering above someone’s head, they might as well have been invisible, as far as she was concerned.

  She eased on the gas and prepared to drive away, and I was helpless to stop her. Wait, just let me look at him for five more seconds, I pleaded, but she didn’t listen, and there was nobody but myself to blame for the conundrum I now faced. After all, I had been the one who called Alexis forth and begged her to take the reins so I could bow out, wallow in heartbreak, and bathe in self-pity.

  How could I admonish her for heeding my request? For putting me right where she’d been for our whole life—trapped inside a body she couldn’t control, none of her decisions truly her own. Except I did blame her. When your best friend doesn’t want to go outside after a bad breakup, you let her eat her weight in Ben and Jerry’s but then you drag her butt out to a club to help burn off the extra calories.

  Except Alexis wasn’t my best friend—she was me, which made the whole thing that much more complicated. When I first found out Cupid was my father, and that I was not only Lexi Balefire of the legendary Balefire witches, Keeper of the Flame, but also a half goddess, it would be an understatement to say I was thrown for a loop.

  Pieces of myself I’d never known existed began to churn inside me, coalescing into an entire being I created as a way to deal with the heebie-jeebies. When I pulled out my father’s bow and nocked a magical, heart-tipped arrow, I was the Goddess Alexis, in all her bleach-blond glory.

  I don’t know if it was my witch mojo or simply the breadth and depth of my belief in her that made Alexis real and gave her power, but now that she had it—sans broken heart—I doubted she’d ever willingly give it back. Or, that I’d have the guts to stand up and take it.

  But then there stood Kin, that delicious curl dangling further into his eyes than I’d ever seen it. Kin, with his guitar string-calloused fingers that used to send tingles down my spine whenever he touched me. Kin, who didn’t even remember I existed, or that we’d been a fated match bound together by True Love’s Kiss.

  Except, for the first time since my nemesis, Diana Diamond’s, love spell had nearly sentenced him to a lifetime of unhappiness and then stolen away every last memory of me, I felt a surge of hope that maybe the final nail in the coffin of our love hadn’t been driven into place quite yet.

  Hope: the harbinger of triumph, the eternal tease, and Achilles’ heel all rolled into one.

  Kin’s eyes met mine and he smiled. The kind of smile not reserved for strangers, but rather for family and friends. He knew me.

  Get a grip. The goddess running things forced my head around.

  Mrs. Chatterly smiled back at Kin from across the street, and he looked right through me.

  Hope is a wonderful thing for those who stand a chance. But for those of us who are doomed to walk the planet reliving the most painful moments of our lives without reprieve, it’s nothing but a cruel joke.

  Chapter 1

  Eyes closed, senses on full alert, I gave in to the bone-vibrating pulse of bass, letting it ripple through my body and pull me into its undulating rhythm. Sweat traced a hot trail down my spine as my hips swiveled and my shoulders shimmied in time to the beat. But while I reveled in the absence of those pesky, unwelcome feelings of concern for things like the fate of the world, the universe—or perhaps the gods—decided I was needed elsewhere.

  The prickle of awareness sliced across my hedonistic mood and the adrenaline it carried raced through my veins and burned off the pleasant tequila-induced buzz I’d been enjoying. For a split second, I considered ignoring the siren song, but then a whiff of something more specific set all the tiny hairs on the back of my neck to tingling attention.

  Something evil lurked close enough to affect everyone in the place. Close enough to trip my trigger, and judging by the intensity of the energy that permeated my consciousness, the creature was on a mission. Suddenly contemptuous of the glazed-over expressions gracing most of the faces in the club, I began to shove my way through the crowd. The crowd shoved back, and with an annoyed flick of my wrist, I sent a blast of magic to clear a path straight down the middle.

  Not a single eye met mine on the way through. As soon as my mood changed, I had ceased to exist in their cocktail-soaked world. Outside, frigid night air hit me in the face like a wall, turning the dewy moisture slicked across my back to icy pinpricks I had no choice but to ignore in the face of more pressing concerns.

  The thing I was now stalking through a labyrinth of dark city alleys looked human enough on the outside—a beautiful specimen of a woman, if I’m being honest—but I knew there was no chewy chocolate center to her lollipop of crazy. No, the surprise inside Diana Diamond’s skin was crunchy and, I suspected, tasted a lot like dung beetle.

  Tonight, the self-styled Queen of Hearts had no intention of bringing two fated hearts together in True Love’s Kiss like her billboards suggested. How she’d duped the entire city of Port Harbor into thinking her intentions were noble was beyond me. Diana’s staunch contempt for love in any incarnation was so palpable I couldn’t fathom how even a complete null would mistake it for benevolence.

  While I could identify with her desire to enter the temple of Olympus, and even understand her conviction that as a half-goddess, her admittance shouldn’t be denied. I could even sympathize with the driving need to learn the answers to questions for which only the gods could provide explanation. Still, there was no doubt the price she expected humanity to pay for her golden ticket was far too high.

  Diana plowed on through the streets, keeping to the shadows where her darkness could roil, uninhibited yet carefully hidden from the quarry she trailed. I followed her several blocks before I realized I wasn’t the only one stalking the evil bringer of hate.

  While the term might sound melodramatic, it was appropriate. Diana spewed dissent wherever she could. Under the guise of a professional matchmaker, her intentions were far from noble. Dark magic ensured her clients would end up in unhealthy, detrimental relationships while sapping the motivation to remove themselves with any sort of haste.

  Without so much as an inkling of remorse, she preyed on the vulnerable and sentenced them to lives filled with heartache and sadness. Consuming the black evil produced by hardened hearts, using hate and hurt to kill her human soul, Diana assumed her god-born heritage would take up the empty space, allowing her access to her father’s demesnes.

  What would happen to the earthly realm as a result was none of her concern.

  Between Diana’s perfectly-manicured, blood-red fingertips flicked a tarot card I knew came complete with soul-piercing, razor-sharp edges and the ability to meddle with destiny’s best-laid plans.

  When she caught up to the unsuspecting woman and took a surreptitious glance around, the look on her face sent a wave of nausea rolling through my stomach. An almost sensual desire sent what I delighted in imagining was a forked tongue, flicking across her lips, and in the cloud-covered glow of moonlight, her eyes were black as sin.

  She grinned and pulled her hand back to fling the card toward her victim, and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop her. But I wasn’t alone. Diana’s second stalker blurred out of the shadows and into the space between innocent and foe.

  Time turned over on itself and it felt like the earth beneath my feet was about to open up and swallow me whole. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

  I am Sylvana Balefire. Daughter of Clara, mistress of a not-quite mythical god, and mother to Lexi, who happened to be standing right in Diana Diamond’s line of fire.

  Several thoughts raced through my brain during the infinite seconds it took for
the tarot card to chart its course toward my daughter. The first, and probably least useful, was that I wouldn’t have picked Lexi out of a lineup, considering the change in her appearance since the last time I’d seen her only a few short months before.

  Gone was the flowing chestnut hair, the warm amber-flecked green eyes, and the softness of a heart-shaped face that looked nearly identical to my own. Now, a chin-length shock of platinum blond tipped with magenta framed angular cheekbones that slashed toward eyes the color and hardness of marble. Pink marble, no less.

  Formidable was the only way to describe this Lexi, but no matter how capable she might look, my heart still leapt into my throat as Diana’s weapon arced ever closer.

  Even while I pondered the series of events that might have led to this kind of transformation, the part of me that had always been forced to fight without conscience for what I wanted called power into my palm as I raised my hand to hurl a binding spell in Diana’s direction.

  Oblivious to everything—being targeted and the fact her love life or maybe even her soul was about to be spared from grave danger—Diana’s original quarry, a sweet-faced woman, continued walking toward the end of the block.

  “Don’t do it.” In the bland tones of someone who expects to be ignored, Lexi warned Diana, but spite or desperation let the card fly anyway. It would not score; the three of us were now alone on the street, and I stepped back into the shadows ready to strike if Lexi needed me.

  Without even so much as a raised eyebrow, my daughter reached behind her back and pulled a glowing golden bow and heart-tipped arrow out of nowhere. I’d seen her father do the very same thing more times than I could count, but watching Lexi claim her birthright with such nonchalance both excited me and chilled me to the bone.

  The glowing ropes of my binding spell disappeared with a sizzle and a snap when Lexi’s arrow erupted with black witchfire shot through with purple sparks. Grim witchfire. The kind that proved my daughter carried a measure of darkness in her soul. We all do, but I never thought Lexi’s was strong enough to power the killing flame. It was possible we had more in common than I thought.

  Gold and bone-white shining through black fire, the shaft of the arrow looked different than any I’d seen my lover, Lexi’s father, use. Lexi took her stance as smoothly as she’d drawn the bow, as if it was second nature. When she fired, the arrow nicked Diana’s index finger, pierced the tarot card, and pinned it to the wall behind her head. Lexi was safe, and she hadn’t needed the protection I’d been willing to provide.

  Dark hair, dark eyes, and dark fury. That was Diana when she shrieked and stared at the slow drip of shadow-darkened—or maybe black was her natural color—blood. Her hand fisted as she glared at Lexi and snarled, “Get out of my way, Balefire. You don’t want to cross me.”

  “Oh, but I do.” Smiling savagely, the woman who looked like my daughter but wasn’t really, lifted a hand almost absently. Still trailing black fire, the arrow pinged out of the wall, and returned to its owner. Watching Lexi pop a hip and stare at Diana while she blew out the flame…well, it made me feel proud and terrified at the same time.

  Twirling the arrow between her fingers like a baton, Lexi assured Diana, “You should have left Kin alone. Going after him was your first mistake, and I’m planning to make it your last.”

  What on earth was she doing? Anger-fueled power shivered through the air, tightened my throat, and prickled across my body. If Diana thought she had the upper hand, she was dead wrong. Lexi’s magic was strong. Stronger than mine, and I’m not bragging when I say I’m one hell of a witch.

  In response, Diana threw back her head and laughed. “You’re nothing but a common Fate Weaver. You’ll die screaming just like the rest.”

  She was gone before Lexi could respond.

  Alexis

  I returned the arrow to its quiver and glared at the empty space left behind when Diana blinked out. Now that she was gone and I was in no danger of showing her anything resembling weakness, I allowed the scorn and anger I felt toward her to color my face. As the world’s most powerful Fate Weaver, daughter of the god Cupid, and wielder of the Bow of Destiny, I should have been in possession of enough magical mojo to smite her right there on the spot.

  Oh, and I was also, technically, Keeper of the Flame, though that honor fell on the side of my witch heritage, which meant that it was Lexi, and not me, Alexis, who controlled the Balefire magic. I know, it’s kind of confusing, especially considering the witch and I shared a body if not a mind and a heart.

  In the aftermath of a failed relationship, she’d divided us in half and let me take the reins. Most of the time, she huddled in her misery, bemoaning the loss of love, and left me to take care of business. Except for any time we got within a hundred yards of Diana Diamond, when she popped up and it was wildcat witch all the way. Those were the moments when I could see our potential if we ever pulled it together.

  I didn’t realize she was capable of enough passionate fury to pull out the killing fire, though. I wouldn’t hesitate to make her use it again if I thought it would take out the threat.

  Right then wasn’t the time to stay focused on the division. Both sides of me wanted revenge, and it would have given me immense pleasure to send Diana Diamond straight to hades in a handbasket. No passing go, no collecting two hundred dollars. Just a one-way ticket to the underworld, where she’d never get the opportunity to realize her deepest desire and ascend to full-goddess status. Why she wanted to gain entry to Olympus was beyond me, but then again I’m mostly sane and tend to avoid places where I’m fully unwelcome.

  Not only had Diana made a mockery of my life’s work, she’d also beaten my witch counterpart’s life into smithereens. Lexi could believe I took pleasure in her pain for as long as she felt the need to do so. If what she required was a punching bag, well, slap the word Everlast on my butt and let her take her best shot. Eventually she’d figure out that I was only trying to protect her, and maybe we could find some way to coexist that didn’t involve one of us subjugating the other.

  Until then, it suited me just find to keep running interference. Even if I could damn Diana to hell, I couldn’t be sure what would happen to the souls she’d affected so far. Her spell on Kin had been broken, and yet he still didn’t remember his relationship with me—or maybe I should say us. If that was the fate of all her misdirected matches, I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to drive the final nail into their coffins.

  I could still feel the thrum of dark magic in my palm and knew we were playing with fire—witchfire, to be exact. Lexi’s fire, but mine if I could go through her to wield it. Unless pushed to the brink, she’d never call forth the black variety, and was right to steer clear of magic that could darken her heart. I, however, had far fewer scruples, and since it seemed as though Lexi was the half that focused on matters of the heart, figured I ought to put to use whatever tools were at my disposal.

  While I pondered these thoughts and imagined Diana dying a thousand deaths, something bright flashed in my peripheral vision. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and even though there was nothing there when I spun around, prepared to fight, I couldn’t shake the thought that someone—or something—had been watching me, just waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  If it was Diana again, the woman had some nerve, and less sense than it would take to fill a thimble. That was fine with me. When the time came, I’d find a way to use her stupidity against her.

  Chapter 2

  “Do I know you?”

  Four simple words. Words made from knives. Knives dipped in poison to burn and sting.

  “Do I know you?”

  As it did every time I had a quiet moment, the memory of Kin’s voice repeated like the echo of a ringing bell. Such a simple question shouldn’t be able to cut a person to ribbons, but he’d left my soul in tatters and my heart a bloody relic.

  I could hate him. I should hate him. I’d never hate him, though, because it wasn’t his fault, but every time I heard his voice in my head, I wanted to kill Diana Diamond. She’d laughed at me as she’d torn us apart.

  It didn’t seem the least bit odd for Diana’s laugh to follow me down a country road. Okay, maybe not the laugh, but the setting was odd. I’m not a back-to-nature kind of woman. Trees? Pretty enough, especially in the fall, or like now, with snow bending their spines into graceful curves. My comfort zone lies in the sights and sounds of the city, the solid feel of a concrete sidewalk under my boots. Man-made canyons with life threading between.