Bishop Read online

  “There you go.” Bonnie smiled in triumph.

  “Are you crazy?” Kira’s eyes darkened in rage as she glared at Bonnie.

  Shrugging, Bonnie thought for a minute. “Unfortunately, I’m batshit crazy, and many know it.” Standing, Bonnie took a few steps toward Kira. “Looks like you need a nudge. It would be a shame if something happened to Drew.” Bonnie let that settle in the air between them and knew she’d figured out a way to get Kira moving on her powers.

  “You even think about it, I will tear you apart.” Kira’s eyes began to flow and swirl as an invisible vortex swirled around her.

  Bonnie dropped her magic, and the building around them appeared again, but the same vortex continued. “How can you do that when you can’t even do basic magic? You can’t even touch me before I harm Drew.”

  The vortex swirled faster and stronger—even Ronan took notice. Mira backed up to hold on to something as Bonnie stood facing Kira. “Touch Drew and die,” Kira sneered.

  Knowing she was pushing it, Bonnie thought hard on what to do next. Should she push her further to see how strong Kira really was?

  “Bonnie,” Mira whispered in warning. “That’s enough for now, I think.”

  It was actually an amazing sight seeing Kira standing there, a wind she produced from magic swirling around, her hair looking electrified as her eyes glowed unnaturally. Sparks were even zapping around Kira as she stood, her eyes deadpanned on Bonnie. Maybe Mira was right, that was enough, but then again….

  “Bonnie.” This time the warning came from Ronan, who was easing his way toward Kira.

  Tilting her head, she gave Kira a smirk, then began moving her mouth as if casting a spell. She really wasn’t, but Kira was so far into protecting Drew it didn’t matter. Kira’s arms shot out, and Bonnie was suddenly lifted off her feet, dangling in the air. She quickly used her own magic to protect her from what she knew was coming and damn, it was going to be painful.

  Their eyes were locked on each other. Their will of magic was strong as it fought against each other. It felt as if Bonnie’s body was being pulled apart as she hung in the air, but thankfully, she had been quick to use her own protective magic so she wouldn’t be pulled apart limb by limb.

  Bonnie was amazed by Kira’s power, and deep down felt a sense of jealousy that Kira was the one Bonnie’s mother had gifted her magic to. A sense of loss overwhelmed Bonnie, making her magic slip. She screamed out in pain just as Ronan tackled Kira. Bonnie fell to the ground hard, her body throbbing in excruciating pain.

  “Oh God.” Kira’s voice sounded so far away. “Bonnie, dammit. I’m sorry.”

  “My fault,” Bonnie managed to croak as a smile slipped across her face. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

  “Get Slade,” Kira ordered Mira. “Hurry.”

  “I’m fine,” Bonnie lied. She wasn’t fine at all. Ribs were broken, that she was sure of. “Now, all we have to do is get you to control all that power.” Bonnie’s voice was coming in gasps, but she needed to get it out.

  “Stop talking,” Ronan ordered, his hand on her shoulder. “Slade is on his way. Can’t you use your magic?”

  Kira shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “We aren’t supposed to hurt each other. When we do, magic won’t fix us. It protects witches against witches, or at least that was the purpose. Dammit, Bonnie, what were you thinking?”

  “Of killing my father, and you are the only one who may be able to do that.” Bonnie coughed and thought she tasted a hint of metallic… blood. Shit, this wasn’t good. Maybe she fucked up pushing Kira too far before she was able to control it. “And for the record, I would never hurt that precious baby.”

  “I know that,” Kira whispered, fear in her voice. “But you’re right. I have to control this. I never realized just how….” Kira swallowed hard, looking away from Bonnie.

  “Powerful my mother was?” Bonnie finished, then reached out for Kira, stopping when pain streaked through her body. “If I could take it from you, I would.”

  “Is that possible?” Mira, who was crouched at Bonnie’s feet, asked.

  Bonnie thought on that for a long minute, her breathing becoming more shallow. Damn, broken ribs hurt like a bitch. “I don’t know,” she finally said, then looked back at Kira. “But if I can, I will. It should have been me. My mother should have given me her magic.”

  Kira nodded, looking defeated. “I’m so sorry.” She sighed, then stood quickly when Slade rushed inside with the new Warrior Ryker following close behind.

  “Don’t be,” Bonnie said, then tried to smile. “I’m the idiot in this scenario.”

  “What happened?” Slade knelt down to look at Bonnie, who tried to talk, but it was becoming harder and harder to do so.

  “I lost control,” Kira said, her voice shaking. Ronan had stood and was holding Kira. “I hurt her. I think it’s her ribs.”

  Slade carefully lifted her shirt, his eyes assessing before looking at her. “Are you having a hard time breathing?”

  Bonnie nodded, her eyes shifting to Kira. Ronan had walked her back, giving Slade room to work. “I coughed, and I think I tasted blood,” she whispered so Kira couldn’t hear.

  “Dammit.” Slade's eyes narrowed as he took out his phone. “This is Dr. Buchanan. I need an X-ray room ready as soon as I get there. Ten minutes at the most.”

  Glancing at the new guy who stood staring down at her, she felt her eyelids drifting closed. He was really cute, she thought and wondered why in the hell her thought process went there when she was possibly dying. Nah, Slade would save her. Her eyes opened quickly, afraid of the darkness. They focused on Slade. He was pretty damn cute himself.

  “Bonnie, we are going to have to move you.” Slade’s voice washed over her, sounding all doctor like. It was crazy how this man could shift from Warrior to doctor in a blink of an eye. “Ryker, help me, but be careful. I don’t know what’s going on until I see X-rays, and I don’t want to cause more damage or shift her ribs.”

  Ryker stepped forward, putting one knee on the ground. “You’re going to be okay, Bonnie.” He smiled at her with a wink. “I’ve done this a hundred times and only made one Warrior scream.”

  “Ehhh,” Bonnie managed to get out. “Got a pretty high pain tolerance, I think.”

  “Wait,” Mira said before Slade and Ryker could lift her. She looked over at Kira. “We can move her more carefully and safely without jostling her.”

  Kira pulled away from Ronan, rushing up to Bonnie’s side. “Yes, we can.” Kira knelt in front of Bonnie. “We’re going to put her in Mira’s car. Go on out and be ready.”

  “Yeah… I don’t know.” Slade frowned, not liking the idea.

  “Please, I did this to her.” Worry etched on Kira’s face. “We can do this. Trust me.”

  “Do it,” Bonnie whispered, then licked her lips. “I trust you, but hurry the hell up. This hurts like a bitch.”

  Bonnie had transported herself hundreds of times over the years. She wasn’t fond of it. Always made her sick to her stomach and gave her one hell of a headache, but she had done it. Never had she let another witch transport her, but she was too weak to do it herself. But Mira was right. This was the easiest, less painful way to do it.

  Closing her eyes, she waited for the weird feeling of weightlessness to hit her when she transported. Along with the pain, her body tingled, and she knew it was working. There was always that fear she would transport herself somewhere that she couldn’t get back from. It had only happened once and it hadn’t been pleasant. She really was putting all her trust in Mira and Kira, but what choice did she have? None. She was helpless at the moment, which was totally her fault. She shouldn’t have pushed Kira to the point of no return, but dammit, she was anxious and ready to see her father suffer for everything he had done.

  Feeling something hard under her head, she slowly slid one eye open. She was in a car, her head on someone’s lap.

  “Well, that’s a first for me,” Ryker’s husky male
voice said from above her. “Never had a beautiful woman appear out of thin air with her head on my lap.”

  “Yeah, well, there may be another first.” Bonnie wheezed, nausea swirling in her gut. “I tend to throw up after transporting.”

  “Nah, actually that wouldn’t be a first.” Ryker chuckled, his large hand resting on her arm.

  “Now that’s a story I want to hear… later.” Bonnie moaned when the car jerked, causing her to shift.

  “Hold on, Bonnie.” Ryker’s voice soothed her. “You’ll be as good as new soon.”

  She hoped like hell he was right. Bonnie felt herself relax, which was odd because of the pain she was in, but Ryker’s voice, as he continued to talk softly to her, eased her in a weird way.

  “Don’t let me die,” she whispered, not really knowing why. “I have some killing to do.”

  His silence, then sudden chuckle, almost made her smile. She was damn good at shocking people.

  “I have a feeling you’re too ornery to die,” Ryker whispered, and she knew he was grinning.

  “You have no idea,” Bonnie whispered back, and then the darkness that was edging closer took over, and everything went black.

  Chapter 3

  Bishop walked around the old house. The smell was overwhelmingly disgusting. The odor of death, rotten food, and old blood filled his senses. Steve walked by with his shirt up over his nose, his golden eyes searching.

  “Doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a while,” Steve muttered, kicking some boxes out of his way. “Are you sure this is the address? And why in the fuck does it smell like feet in here?”

  Viktor checked his phone with a frown. “This is the address the informant gave me. Said a lot of activity in this area, especially this address.”

  “If it’s witches, they could be glamming the place,” Steve said, looking around. “Mira told me witches do it all the time. Though this place doesn’t look glammed; it’s a shithole. And maybe that’s what they want us to see. But seriously, didn’t they wear fucking shoes. Damn, it’s gagging the shit out of me.”

  Bishop glanced at Viktor with a cocked eyebrow. Steve was right. A witch could hide in plain sight. Glamming, some called it, was when a witch used her magic to trick the eye. A person could be standing in a palace and not know it. Though this part of town, he doubted that. Witchcraft may not work on full-bloods, but magical elements could still fool them. Damn, he was obviously out of practice since he hadn’t thought of that.

  Walking toward the hallway, he searched for a door. “Did you notice if there were window wells?”

  “No, but I’ll go look.” Steve rushed out, then came right back in. “Yep, there are.”

  “Then we have a basement.” Bishop felt around on the wall in the hallway until his hand landed on a knob that by the eye, you couldn’t see. Twisting the knob, it turned with ease and the door appeared and opened. “Found it,” he called out, then headed downstairs.

  The steps were old, rotting, and unstable. It was pitch black, but Bishop could see perfectly. Once at the bottom, he checked around and it looked empty, but he had a feeling that wasn’t the case. The cluttered mess upstairs betrayed the cleanliness of downstairs. As he walked to the middle of the room, he frowned.

  “It’s clean. And has the bonus of no feet smell.” Steve stomped around with his hands on his hips. “What the hell?”

  Bishop looked around, his eyes narrowing. The walls were too white. He glanced at Viktor and knew he noticed it too. It looked freshly painted.

  “Go ahead.” Viktor gave Bishop a nod. “See if you still got it.”

  Bishop smirked, then put his hands together and bowed his head. He cleared his mind as he focused. He hadn’t done this in years, and it felt foreign as well as familiar all at the same time. Very strange emotions hit him at once, but he forced them back.

  “Ah, don’t think prayer is gonna help on this one, man,” Steve grumbled, but Bishop ignored him. “Didn’t think you were the praying type, though. Good to know in a pinch.”

  Still ignoring Steve, Bishop thought of the words Emilia had taught them years ago and hoped he was repeating them correctly. “Help me,” Bishop hissed, feeling his body tingle and warm. He knew something was happening, but the magic here was strong.

  He heard Viktor’s low mumblings in his thoughts and continued keeping pace with his brother.

  “Okay, freaking me out a little.” Steve's voice sounded far away as Bishop focused. “You two priests in a past life or something? I mean, sorry, but you sure as shit don’t look the part. Then again, I heard the Dark Guardians were once men of God, and they sure as fuck don’t look—”

  “Shut up,” Viktor hissed, then all went silent other than their low mumbles of words they hadn’t spoken in years.

  “Sorry,” Steve muttered. “Should I start praying? I’m sure I can throw some words together…. Whoa, what the actual fuck?”

  Bishop slowly opened his eyes but continued with the words. Sure enough, it was working. The magic faded, showing the true vision of the basement, and what he saw turned him cold as ice. The walls were covered in a mixture of occult drawings. Bishop dropped his hands, walking toward one. He reached up to touch the red lettering, then looked at his fingers covered in red.

  “Is that blood?” Steve walked up, looking closer.

  “Yes.” Viktor stood back, his eyes dark as night when Bishop glanced his way. “It’s a summoning spell.”

  “Summoning what?” Steve asked, not sounding like he really wanted to know.

  “Some of these symbols I’ve never seen.” Bishop glanced around, ignoring Steve’s question. “Some are fresh, very fresh.”

  “Damn,” Viktor cursed, reaching down to the floor and picking something up. He handed it to Bishop.

  “Son of a bitch,” Bishop growled, staring at a picture of Bonnie. The symbol painted across the picture was dry. Rage slammed into him, threatening to consume him.

  “What’s that on the picture?” Steve took the photo and tentatively touched it.

  “The symbol of death,” Viktor answered as he continued to look around. “Which isn’t shocking since she has a bounty on her head, but this… this isn’t good.”

  Bishop turned to see Viktor holding another picture. Walking that way, he swore if it was another picture of Bonnie, he was going to lose his shit, but it wasn’t. It was Kira, and the symbol painted in red blood was still damp.

  “Call Sloan,” Viktor ordered Steve. “Tell him we need a witch here now, preferably Bonnie.”

  “Ah, you think that’s the smartest idea since her picture is here with a death symbol painted in blood on it?” Steve looked up from his phone with a frown.

  Bishop agreed with Steve but knew Bonnie had the most experience with black magic. Some of these symbols he’d never seen before, and that was saying something. “Just call,” Bishop bit out, then continued to walk around. Whoever did this meant business.

  Steve cursed. “I thought we were supposed to have cell service everywhere. I can’t get a fucking signal down here.”

  “Then go upstairs.” Viktor stared at the ground where a huge pentagram was painted on the floor. He pulled his phone out and took pictures. “Do you remember ever seeing anything like this?”

  “No,” Bishop replied, shaking his head, his eyes going to the picture of Bonnie and Kira that Steve had set down. “I have a feeling Orjyll is behind it.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much a given.” Viktor frowned as he turned to head upstairs. “I’m going to check out more of the upstairs.”

  “Watch your back,” Bishop warned, grabbing the pictures of Kira and Bonnie. He stood there staring not at Kira’s picture, but at Bonnie’s. She didn’t deserve this. From what he understood, she had spent her life plotting against her father to avenge her mother’s death. Alone. She was one of the strongest people he had ever met, and yet, his feelings toward her confused the hell out of him.

  “Hey!” Viktor yelled from upstairs. Bishop folde
d the pictures and stuck them in the inside pocket of his jacket. Hurrying up the steps, he stopped at the look on Steve’s and Viktor’s faces. “It’s Bonnie.”

  “What?” Bishop growled with narrowed eyes. He swore if anyone hurt her, he would hunt them down and rip them apart. His instant rage took him back somewhat, but he ignored it.

  “She’s in the hospital. University,” Steve added, looking a little nervous. “It seems training went bad. She pushed Kira into a rage by threatening Drew. Kira couldn’t control it, and Mira said she hurt Bonnie pretty bad.”

  “Go on,” Viktor ordered him. “We’ve got this and will wait until Sloan and the rest of them get here. Mira is heading this way with Damon to see if she can decipher some of the symbols. I’ll call Raven also.”

  Bishop didn’t have to be told twice. He was out the door and jumping on his bike. “Fuck!” he cursed as he pulled onto the street. Bonnie never thought twice about putting herself in danger, and it pissed him off. What in the hell had she been thinking? He knew how powerful Emilia was, and for Kira to not only have her own power but Emilia’s too, made her a dangerous foe, especially as she had little control.

  Running lights and Stop signs, Bishop fought with his thoughts. Would he be rushing to her if she didn’t mean anything to him? What in the fuck was he doing? He should be back with Viktor trying to figure this shit out, not risking his ass or others by riding like a maniac to get to her.

  Pulling into the hospital, he parked quickly, then jogged toward the emergency room. Heading toward the waiting room, he saw Kira and Ronan. His gaze then fell on Ryker, the new Warrior. His eyes narrowed, but Kira rushed toward him, gaining his attention.

  “Slade was just out here,” she said quickly, her eyes red and swollen. “She’s going to be okay. A few broken ribs. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “Of course you didn’t mean to do it.” Bishop pulled her into a hug. “And she knows that.”

  Kira pulled away and nodded, wiping her eyes. “I just feel terrible. She’s right. I don’t know what I’m doing. I cannot control this. It’s too much.”