The Banshee's Embrace Read online

  Angered, Gabe suddenly let out a shriek of primal rage! Power lifted his body into the air and electricity crackled from his fingertips, even as it poured from his mouth and eyes. He aimed all of that energy at Derek.

  "You betrayed me, uncle!" he shouted.

  The bolt of energy hit Derek in his chest, and as Toby and Jacqueline took cover behind the bar, they saw him writhe in pain, a look of shock on his face. But Gabe's power was no match for anything Derek could have mustered.

  Within a moment Derek Spark exploded. There was nothing left but ashes.

  Everything in the room shook. Bottles fell and pieces of the building crashed down around them. When the dust settled, Jacqueline peeked out from behind the bar.

  "And you were worried about my powers going crazy?" she said to Toby.

  Together they stood, brushing each other off.

  Gabe lay on the floor.

  "No!" Toby ran to his son, kneeling next to him. He breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alive. I don't want to lose him all over again."

  "He's going to need some help controlling his powers," Jacqueline said.

  Toby looked up at her.

  "Speaking of control, do you realize that you broke a command spell on your own? That takes incredible will power," Toby said. "How did you break it?"

  "I just thought about you." Jacqueline smiled. "I could never hurt someone I love."

  The smile Toby gave her made her feel as light as air.

  In fact, as soon as his lips met hers she found herself literally floating.

  "Now that's my kind of magic," she said.

  "Do you realize that none of the wizards can hurt you now? They can't control you," Toby pointed out. "I always thought death would be your only escape. Once you were a full bloodied banshee, no one would want to hurt you since all you could take then were dead spirits."

  "I didn't want to die," Jacqueline whispered. "I want to be with you."

  She thought about all the things that would need to be taken care of.

  Explaining what had taken place in the bar to Angela and Matilda while they'd been tied up in the office was going to be interesting. Getting Gabe to control his powers would probably be another hard task--not to mention figuring out how to get past the fact that he had murdered Eric. Learning about the best way to use her new found skills was going to take time, too.

  Hell, discovering everything there was to know about the supernatural world was going to be a challenge!

  But as she looked into Toby's eyes, she found she was ready for anything. The future didn't seem so daunting in his arms.

  For his part, Toby could hardly believe that he'd found such an amazing woman. He would keep her safe from any lingering threat from the Brotherhood or anyone else.

  But those were worries for another time.

  At that moment, all he could do was kiss his banshee and enjoy her warm embrace.