Free Intoxicating Magic by Deanna Chase

shield.
    Tal smiled at me and shook his head as he ran a light hand down my calf. He stopped at my ankle, and ever so gently, he proceeded to strip my shoes off my tired feet. “Just relax, Wil.”
    Combined with his soothing voice and the spark of his healing hands, I didn’t have any trouble doing as he asked. My eyelids became heavy and the tension seemed to drain from my shoulders as he worked his magic. Literally. He was a healer and just his touch was enough to soothe my aches and pains.
    I watched him for a moment and when I couldn’t stand not knowing any longer, I asked, “Why wouldn’t the Void let you call me, Tal?”
    He frowned and all the tension that had drained from me seemed to pour right into him. The set of his jaw, his rigid posture, the rhythm of his elevated breathing. “I’m working undercover.”
    “Okay.” That was normal. Phoebe did that all the time.
    “With Hunter.”
    The words hung in the air as he let me work out exactly what that meant. I filtered through everything I’d learned that night. I’d followed Tal to my mother’s old lavender fields, the place where Beau had died. We’d run into Hunter, a fae shifter who’d transformed himself into a vampire. He was working undercover as well. Had infiltrated a group of vampires. Ones that wanted to kill me. I let out a small gasp and peered at Tal. “No,” I said on a whisper.
    Regret filled his beautiful green eyes as he gave me a small nod.
    My head swam. It couldn’t be possible.
    Then Tal took my hand once more and pressed his lips to my palm. “I’d do anything for you. You know that, right?”
    “But not this. You can’t,” I said quietly, unwilling to accept what he was trying to tell me.
    He covered my hand with both of his. “I already have. You see the reason I couldn’t call you, couldn’t tell you, is because my end had to be real. They have to believe I want nothing to do with you. That I’m so angry that you chose Laveaux over me that I’ll do anything to get revenge.”
    “I didn’t—” I started, needing to deny his claim that I’d chosen David. I most certainly hadn’t.
    Tal cut me off. “I know, Willow. But I need them to think that’s what happened. It’s my reason for turning on you. I needed to be the scorned fae who’d been roped into working with Allcot.”
    I sat stunned, staring at my hands. Please, no. Don’t let any of this be true. It was too awful.
    “Wil?” Talisen used two fingers to lift my chin. “You know I didn’t have a choice, right?”
    I nodded, still mute.
    “Then you also need to know that now that I’m on the inside, I’m going to take the organization down.” His eyes narrowed with intensity. “And I won’t stop until Asher is dead.”

Chapter 8

    A chill ran deep in my bones. Talisen had infiltrated Asher’s inner circle. Asher: the daywalking vampire who thought vampires held too much power over humans and that his kind was evil. He’d killed Beau and come after me in an effort to make sure no other vampires were turned into daywalkers. Now Talisen was determined to take him down.
    I was both proud and terrified at the same time. “It’s too dangerous,” I said, leaning in to place my hand on his cheek.
    “Everything is dangerous for me now. You know what that’s like better than anyone.”
    I did. My life had turned into something greater than myself. I’d been contracted by the Void, used by Allcot, and ruled by my heart when it came to protecting Beau Jr. I’d willingly teamed up with Allcot because I’d known he would keep my nephew safe. I was only useful in that I could turn vamps into daywalkers and that I could make Orange Influence, the chocolate treat that could control someone’s actions. That was a lot of power to wield. And even though I’d so far resisted being forced to make Orange Influence for Allcot, I had turned some of his vamps.
    Stale revulsion ate away at my stomach. I’d done it as part of the Void testing and those