Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up 4)

His gaze snapped up, pleasure and gratitude filling the link. He nodded, the gesture barely perceptible.

I gave him a little smile and couldn’t help a stupid wave. He had plenty to do, though, and I didn’t need to bother him with my stuff. I ignored Sir Stares-a-Lot and made my way back to my seat, having to squeeze in again, this time pushing more toward Niamh’s chair so I wasn’t as close to Kace.

“Here.” Kace moved his knees again, but not so far this time, reaching for me to help me pass.

“No, no, I’m good, honest.” I tried to twist away from his fingertips. “It’s fine.”

He nodded, and I’d almost made it past him when he placed his hand on the small of my back, the feel of his touch all wrong. The pressure, the size of his hand, the warmth.

It was at that moment that I realized two things. The first was that I’d grown so accustomed to Austin’s touch that I knew it by feel. I knew when it wasn’t his, and it felt wrong.

The second was a lot more jarring.

Eighteen

Rage bled through me, but it wasn’t my rage.

Movement made me jerk my head up before I could fully lower into my seat.

Austin reached us in a few steps, his face still hard but his eyes burning.

He grabbed Kace by the back of the shirt and ripped him upward. Kace’s butt caught the back of the chair, and it toppled over. His shirt ripped up the back and he dropped, struggling to get his bearings.

“Crap.” I hurried forward, knowing this had happened because Austin had sensed my discomfort through the link. He didn’t have all the information and was just trying to protect me.

Austin let go of Kace’s shirt, letting him fall to the ground, then grabbed his arm and swung him toward the back of the bar.

Just like last time, I magically sent people running from the bar, closing them off from the action. Only Niamh and one other person remained, Sir Stares-a-Lot. Niamh wasn’t bothered by my spell, but he clearly felt my shove and was pushing back.

I didn’t have the time to make a point.

I slapped an inverted shield around him to keep him from seeing what went down. Austin was ashamed of his darkness, and if he let it leak out again, he wouldn’t want everyone to know. The spell was crude but serviceable. And although the big shifter got to work fighting it immediately (he couldn’t see me, but I could still see him), it was a powerful spell. Not even Austin would have been able to break out of it. Probably.

Austin pinned one of Kace’s arms with one hand and grabbed his throat with the other. I grimaced, knowing Kace could easily land a punch on Austin’s exposed face. If he still had that knife, he could stick it into Austin’s exposed neck.

“Hey, hey.” I paused with my hand on Austin’s shoulder, only then registering that Kace’s eyes were downcast, his body relaxed. He was yielding to Austin’s rage. To his dominance.

Austin leaned over him, face inches away, aggression plain but fingers not squeezing Kace’s windpipe. This wasn’t like last time at all. Austin wasn’t out of control, lost to the blackness. He was letting his rage send a message, but he wasn’t succumbing to it. He was proving the status quo, like Ulric had said.

I took my hand away and stepped back, thinking maybe I’d acted prematurely with the magical screen.

“Niamh, do I let people see this?” I shouted.

“Let the angry one by the door see it,” she replied. “Leave the rest out. They’re wreckin’ me head.”

Fair enough.

I ripped Sir-Stares-a-Lot’s inverted shield away, and he stepped forward, his own rage consuming him. He roared, not entirely human, and surged toward me.

A blistering spell was at my disposal immediately, muscle memory, ready to be unleashed.

Austin got there first, so fast that I startled. Pinning Kace one moment, he was in front of me the next, tucking me behind him and putting himself between me and the charge.

“Don’t release that, whatever it is, Jess,” Austin snarled, though his anger was not directed at me.

The other man slowed, perhaps sensing the change in the tide, or maybe he realized I had some ammo he didn’t want to mess with. Still, he was bristling with anger, power surging from him.

But Austin’s power was mightier. I could feel it vibrating through me, singing through my blood and electrifying my body. I touched his back, unable to help it, and leaned into his warmth, needing more. Lost to it and not sure why. Drowning in it but not wanting to come up for air.

“It’s done,” Austin said to the man savagely, reaching back and bracing me against him. “It’s done. Back down.”

“Are you in control?” the other man asked, and I wondered the same thing about him.