{"id":3830,"date":"2019-02-24T15:15:15","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/?p=3830"},"modified":"2019-02-24T15:15:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-24T23:15:25","slug":"spell-of-binding-dark-caster-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/?p=3830","title":{"rendered":"Spell of Binding (Dark Caster #2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Anna Abner<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Copyright 2013 by Anna Abner<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cover Blurb:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Daniela Ferraro can\u2019t touch people without hurting them. So when she wakes up in the Dark Caster\u2019s cell next to the one man guaranteed to mess with her heart, she will risk anything to escape. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Wilkes has no idea why he\u2019s been abducted and thrown in a locked room with Dani, the woman who jilted him two years ago. But when the Dark Caster threatens David\u2019s four year old son, David will not stop until Ryan is safe and the evil necromancers tormenting him are destroyed. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Dani\u2019s powers are bound and her necromancer friends are out of commission, the only way to protect the people she cares about and keep the Chaos Gate firmly closed is to trust in David. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the closer Dani gets to David the more lethal her touch becomes for the only man she\u2019s ever loved.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter One<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

David Wilkes\u2019s bedroom smelled funny. He woke with a pulsing headache to mold, dust, and perfume scents\u2014three odors he never encountered in his new condo. With great care not to jostle his skull, he peeled his cheek off a strange pillow and rolled onto his back in an unfamiliar bed. A white ceiling came into focus, so he hadn\u2019t skydived with a faulty parachute. But something bad had happened. In a flash, it was four years ago, and he was driving his \u201863 Camaro home with his wife, Jordyn, and their son, Ryan, when a motorcycle veered into his path and the side of a Chinese restaurant rose up in front of his windshield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDavid?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returned, gratefully, to the present and an uncertain female voice. But when he lifted his head to make eye contact, the resulting agony forced him to reconsider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you in pain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was a nurse type of question. Maybe he\u2019d had another accident and ended up in a hospital. Oh, no. Ryan<\/em>. David didn\u2019t care if he tore his own body to pieces in a high speed collision, but he couldn\u2019t handle the thought of Ryan injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s my son?\u201d he mumbled. Even speech hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small, cold hand palmed his forearm. \u201cHeal,\u201d she said. He extracted himself from her icy grasp, and the uncomfortable freezing sensation faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David took a deep breath, which helped. A few more and the pain receded into the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He blinked and found himself staring into a pair of dark, nearly black, eyes. Familiar eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDaniela?\u201d What was his son\u2019s former preschool teacher doing here? And where was here<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was no hospital room, but a basement, considering the dank odors. Two narrow mattresses lay on the floor, a beat-up recliner between them. A bare concrete floor. And a steel door. The kind of door used in horror movies and prison cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not a hospital. And there was no sign of his son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d he asked. Time felt wonky. Things blended together, some events hazing over. He must have been asleep a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrink some water. You\u2019ll feel better.\u201d She slid a tall plastic bottle across the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, he was thirsty, like really thirsty. David drank, spilling water down the sides of his mouth, and then stood. But he moved too quickly, got light-headed, and reached for Dani to steady himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething\u2019s wrong,\u201d he said, and then groaned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shrank from his touch. \u201cI\u2019m not totally sure what\u2019s going on. I woke up a few minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her rejection cleared his head like nothing else could have. For a moment, he\u2019d forgotten how cold she was. \u201cYou\u2019re not totally sure.\u201d He tried to shake off her obvious revulsion. As if she hadn\u2019t already made it clear a year ago. \u201cBut you have an idea?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David remembered leaving his office in city hall. Had he reached Ryan\u2019s day care? Had he made it home? Someone had abducted him by force, obviously, and stuck him here with Dani Ferraro, of all people. But that didn\u2019t make any sense. He wasn\u2019t important enough to abduct. There must be another explanation. Or this was one big goof-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d She shook her head, and waves of black hair rustled around her narrow shoulders. And just like in the old days, desire zinged through him. She was still graceful and petite and exactly his type. While she had her face turned away, he studied her from her neon pink sneakers to her wild mane of black curls. Yep, still gorgeous. \u201cBut it has to do with magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He would have laughed if he hadn\u2019t been so sick inside. \u201cRight.\u201d So, Dani was going the crazy route. Fine. But he couldn\u2019t afford to sit around describing pink elephants and shouting about alien conspiracies. He had his son to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning in a slow circle, he stared at the door and then the high window. Where the hell was he, and where was Ryan? The last he remembered, his four-year-old was safe in Auburn in his new day care. But what if\u2026? David\u2019s insides twisted, and he rushed the door, jerking on the handle. It didn\u2019t budge. Sealed tight. As in triple locked, maybe welded shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey!\u201d He pounded on the metal. \u201cOpen up!\u201d No response. \u201cYou hear me? Open this door!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His memories twisted and warped. Last night\u2014was it only last night?\u2014he\u2019d been driving home from his office in Auburn\u2019s city hall on his way to pick up Ryan at New Horizons Day Care, thinking about dinner and construction on the bridge and the new crime drama waiting for him on his TiVo. There was no reason he should be locked in this room except that someone with a strong incentive had put him here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he was trapped with the one woman he\u2019d hoped to never see again. A year had passed, but he hadn\u2019t forgotten when this sexy woman had flicked him away like lint on her sleeve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had to get out of here. Now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Ryan was in some room somewhere, alone and scared and hurt, the boy would be terrified. David hauled back and punched the door. Pain shrieked up his forearm, but there wasn\u2019t so much as a scratch on the metal. He couldn\u2019t deal with a fracture when he didn\u2019t even know where he was or why. No more punching things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRyan!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani didn\u2019t get anywhere near him. \u201cEasy, big guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentally, he shut her out. She was too distracting. There was nothing Dani could say right now he\u2019d want to hear. Unless it was a realistic escape plan. Instead, he pulled himself up onto the high window like it was a chin-up bar and peered through glass streaked in dried mud and covered with a heavy-duty security mesh. Were they still in Auburn, let alone North Carolina? He recognized dirt and light and a part of a dandelion weed. They could have been anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRyan!\u201d David banged on the glass so hard it cracked along the left edge. He dropped to his feet. A cut could mean tetanus or a staph infection and eventually sepsis. He couldn\u2019t afford any accidents until he figured all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s broken glass,\u201d he warned Dani. He couldn\u2019t help talking to her just like he couldn\u2019t help still liking her even after she\u2019d rejected him. He was such a sucker. \u201cStay back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you cut yourself?\u201d Her voice registered concern, but she didn\u2019t get any closer in order to look for herself. Obviously, she still couldn\u2019t stand him. Not used to feeling like a leper, he turned his back on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d Abandoning the window, he inspected the surrounding wall for weaknesses. The bricks looked new, like maybe someone had remodeled the room recently. \u201cWe\u2019re prisoners.\u201d It wasn\u2019t a question. They were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t heard anyone else,\u201d Dani said. \u201cMy purse is here, but my cell phone is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He patted his pants pockets. Everything was in his wallet in its proper place, including eighty dollars in cash, but his phone and car keys were missing. \u201cWhat do they want? Money?\u201d He snorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the city manager of Auburn. He had a lot of responsibility to the community, and his job came with a fair amount of power, but he couldn\u2019t single-handedly make things happen. He couldn\u2019t clear arrest records. He couldn\u2019t reduce tax fees. He couldn\u2019t even fix tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if it was a ransom they wanted, no problem. David had savings. And his mother was stupidly wealthy. All they had to do was ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo they have demands?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen anyone besides the two of us,\u201d Dani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No demands meant their jailers had no plans to release them. Ever. \u201cDid you see Ryan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He glanced up from the junction of the bricks and the concrete floor to watch her reaction, but something hazy and out of place caught his eye. A figure hovered in the corner. David wouldn\u2019t normally pay attention to aberrations in reality. They were lingering symptoms of a serious head injury four years ago. But he was being held hostage in a basement with a girl he\u2019d once kissed, so he was paying attention to everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longer David stared at the figure, the more details solidified. A teenage boy, tall and lanky, appeared. He had dark hair and wore long pants, a thin sweater, and a pair of skate shoes. A manifestation of David\u2019s inner fears? A memory of someone he\u2019d once known? An amalgam of himself, his son, and his late father?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you?\u201d Dani asked for maybe the second or third time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David blinked, and the boy in the corner vanished. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDid you see anyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d He checked the dial on his watch. \u201cIt\u2019s Friday.\u201d His eyes widened. Not possible. He\u2019d been driving home on Thursday<\/em>. He ran his fingers through is hair, feeling for bumps or sore spots, but didn\u2019t find any. How had he lost an entire twenty-four hours? \u201cWe\u2019ve been here for a whole day? Are you kidding?\u201d His mother must be freaking out. Not to mention Ryan. The boy wasn\u2019t used to David spending nights away from home. He\u2019d be a nervous wreck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, it\u2019s the nineteenth.\u201d She waved her chunky digital watch at him. \u201cWe\u2019ve been here eight days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d The room tilted wildly before righting itself. Eight days. Not only was it physically impossible, but without any word from him, his family would begin to think he was dead. \u201cA person can only live three days without water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless we were under a sleep spell. Magic can keep a person alive indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magic again. This was serious, damn it. He crossed the room in two long strides and grabbed Dani by the upper arms. His fingers dug into her biceps, and he caught a whiff of floral perfume. His nerve endings came to life as his breath shortened. Even after a year, she still affected him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMagic\u2019s not real,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She jerked away, much stronger than she appeared, and stumbled into the wall at her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t touch me,\u201d she said, gasping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had been a year since their ill-fated date at Papa Luigi\u2019s when he\u2019d leaned in for a good-night kiss and she\u2019d turned to a block of ice. Apparently, her disgust for him hadn\u2019t dwindled. Which hurt, even now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He studied her, unabashed, memorizing every curve and square inch of her work scrubs, and he still couldn\u2019t pinpoint the reason for the attraction he felt, even now. She\u2019d always seemed so friendly. A little eccentric, but he liked that. It\u2019s why he\u2019d agreed to the setup a year ago. He hadn\u2019t expected her to reject him so completely. Not after such an amazing first date, during which they\u2019d clearly connected. Chemistry through the roof. He hadn\u2019t imagined that. Her rejection still stung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the people in the world, what were the two of them doing there together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis can\u2019t be a coincidence,\u201d he said. Maybe Dani knew more than she was saying. Was she in on it? He narrowed his eyes. Was she the mastermind come to screw with him? \u201cWhat aren\u2019t you telling me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani acted like she hadn\u2019t heard his question. \u201cYou must have some knowledge of magic, or you wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you hearing me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you hang out with a lot of casters?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere is Ryan?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She squinted at different points on his face as if she were solving an algebraic equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnswer me!\u201d God, this was not the time to get weird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani visibly paled. \u201cNo way. You\u2019re not a caster. You can\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* * *<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, so awkward. No, it was worse than that. Humiliating was a good word. So was demeaning. There was no reason for her to be in this room with him<\/em>. She\u2019d once taken a chance on David Wilkes, the first guy in ten years she\u2019d liked enough to try for something more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The date had been such a train wreck that he wouldn\u2019t make eye contact the next time he came by to pick up his son from day care. About a month later, David pulled Ryan out of Dani\u2019s preschool class, and Happy Trails completely, saying he had a new job in Auburn, a forty-five minute drive south. It had been humiliating then, too, to think their date had been so painful he couldn\u2019t even stand to look at her afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani folded her arms around her middle, afraid she\u2019d fall to pieces if she let go. Some witch or necromancer had grabbed her and David\u2014what were the odds, really?\u2014and forced them to sleep. Magic, not hers, soured her entire nervous system. Her stomach rioted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A supernatural being was screwing with her and David, too. And she couldn\u2019t even think about anyone hurting four-year-old Ryan because she\u2019d start crying and never stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ten minutes or so while David had still slept, she\u2019d examined the basement and everything in it. Whoever had put them here was smart. They\u2019d swept the room of anything resembling a weapon. No tools or lumber or anything helpful remained but the narrow mattresses, the recliner, and a couple bottles of flat, room-temperature water. Anything else she needed was going to have to come through that door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She just hadn\u2019t figured out the why<\/em>, yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani had been born a witch, but she hadn\u2019t fully come into her power until the age of fourteen when she\u2019d squeezed in a hall closet with an older boy. That encounter, too, had ended in pain and anguish. She\u2019d spent the last decade trying to control the unrelenting tropical storm brewing inside her with varying levels of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past few years had been fairly stable. She liked working at Happy Trails Day Care. She liked her new apartment. She had a friend. And purpose. Her power was easier to control when she was content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So putting her in a cage with the one guy who messed with her head was a very bad idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did David Wilkes have to do with anything anyway? Besides being so gorgeous and blond and tall that he made her nervous, if she got upset and touched his bare skin, she could cause permanent damage. She might even kill him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her power operated through touch. She couldn\u2019t wiggle her nose like Samantha in that show. She couldn\u2019t wave a wand like Hermione. Dani had to have actual physical contact with the object\u2014or person\u2014she wanted to effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was that her captor\u2019s endgame? Get her to kill an innocent person?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe David wasn\u2019t completely innocent. Maybe he was a caster, too. She stared at him, trying to find signs. No paranormal jewelry. No magical tattoos. Just khaki pants, loafers, and a white button down shirt. Absolutely nothing otherworldly about him. Even his hair was neat and tidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t screw around with me,\u201d he snapped. \u201cI want to see Ryan. I want to know he\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone with significant power had put her and David to sleep like unplugging a pair of blenders. What did David Wilkes have that they wanted? As far as Dani knew, he was a regular guy, a local politician with an adorable son, but nothing screamed supernatural. What was she missing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you a necromancer? A witch?\u201d Not a single spell mark on him. \u201cSomething else?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David zigzagged across the room from door to recliner to window to mattress like a rat in a maze. Even trapped and freaking out he looked good, which let her know she must be in shock. A normal person in the same situation would be pondering escape, not the power in David Wilkes\u2019s long, long legs. Or the way his shoulders flexed and moved under his white shirt. Or how red highlights shone in his touchable blond hair every time he passed in front of the window. He was still hot, and he still revved her engine. Even after their disastrous date and the awkward encounters right afterwards and then the ensuing silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returned to the door and rapped on the steel. \u201cExcuse me! I want to talk to the person in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea that this local do-gooder was secretly a caster just didn\u2019t click. But if there was a chance that he was a necromancer\u2014even one very, very deep in the magical closet\u2014she had to get him to power up. They needed every advantage they could muster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And nothing put a caster at ease like seeing someone else use magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do a locator spell, and then you\u2019ll know where Ryan is,\u201d she offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no reason to feel silly. Dani cast magic in front of people. Yesterday she\u2019d cast a spell on Rebecca Powell in front of Holden Clark. No, not yesterday. Over a week ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that was different. Holden was a caster, too. And Rebecca had been under a demonic-summoning spell. She\u2019d had a quick and brutal introduction to the supernatural. But David claimed he didn\u2019t believe in magic. It was possible he\u2019d never seen a caster at work, let alone a witch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stared at her like she\u2019d suggested they polka. \u201cYou\u2019ll do a what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a witch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He snorted. \u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether you believe me or not doesn\u2019t change anything.\u201d Kneeling, Dani laid a palm on the cold concrete floor. Her power surged like a blizzard under her skin and connected her nerve endings in a net of magical energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outline of all fifty states appeared in neon-blue lines on the concrete. \u201cShow my location.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lavender dot burst into being within the borders of North Carolina, her home state. So, their abductor hadn\u2019t carried them too far. Good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShow Ryan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another lavender dot joined the first in nearly the same spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow the hell did you do that?\u201d David asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMagic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani lifted her hand, breaking the spell, and when she next flattened her palm against the floor, a neon-blue map of North Carolina appeared. \u201cShow me where we all are.\u201d Three dots popped up in David and Ryan\u2019s hometown of Auburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrutinizing the map, David eased nearer than she was comfortable with. On a normal day, she liked a three-foot bubble of empty space around her at all times. What she called her no-touch zone. David was about eighteen inches away, and this was far from a normal day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs that real?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne hundred percent,\u201d she said, trying not to notice little things like the silky caramel color of his trousers or the fine sprinkling of hair on his forearm. It really wasn\u2019t fair that he was that good looking and still so out of bounds. \u201cI, uh, I can be more specific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your new address?\u201d She hadn\u2019t been to his home since he\u2019d moved away a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 232 Pear Street. Down at the end of Western.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In increments, Dani drew new maps. Auburn, his neighborhood, and finally a sketch of their home on Pear. Ryan\u2019s lavender dot lay in bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David leaned in, narrowing the gap to about twelve inches, tops. She stiffened, her breathing accelerating. \u201cCan you see who\u2019s with him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She magically redrew the blueprint of his condo. \u201cShow me who is in the home with Ryan.\u201d One other lavender dot appeared with a little glowing tag that read \u201cJoan Wilkes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mother,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank God. The little boy was safe with his grandma. Whatever plot she and David were part of didn\u2019t include Ryan, and that made everything more manageable, even David\u2019s extreme proximity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShow me where I am.\u201d The map\u2019s lines adjusted themselves. Her dot paused north of Auburn off Highway 17 on the edge of the old Hofmann Forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so close to town,\u201d David marveled, hopping over to the window and pulling himself up. \u201cHey!\u201d His voice boomed in the quiet space. \u201cCan anyone hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani sagged in relief, her no-touch zone blessedly reestablished, and then shook off a cold sensation like frost bite. A symptom of practicing magic. She laid her chilled palm flat against the brick wall beside her. \u201cShow me the spells cast on this room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spell marks burst into sight like fireworks around the door and window. Impenetrable, one-way barrier spells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were necromancy marks. She couldn\u2019t break them. Only another necromancer could do that, and she was fresh out of those. She knew exactly two. Holden Clark was trying to keep a demon out of Rebecca Powell. Maybe he already had. Or maybe he\u2019d failed while Dani slept helplessly in this basement cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other was Cole Burkov, the biggest, baddest caster in town. He\u2019d be a huge help right now. But she couldn\u2019t get his attention. He wasn\u2019t here, and neither of them was psychic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one will be able to hear you,\u201d she confirmed. \u201cThey\u2019ve cast a couple of different spells. Nothing can escape, not even sound, from either the window or the door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is so absurd.\u201d Massaging his temples, he frowned at the glowing orange spell marks around the window frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani plopped onto her bottom and hugged herself for warmth because her temperature had dropped a degree or two during the spell. That was the tricky thing about her magic. It was fueled by her body heat, and it eventually chilled her to the bone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow you know.\u201d Her teeth chattered, and she briefly clenched her jaw to stop. \u201cRyan is with his grandmother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah. What a relief.\u201d David didn\u2019t sound very relieved. \u201cYou don\u2019t know why we\u2019re here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. Are you ready to tell me why a necromancer put you in this room with a witch?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI only understood about half of that sentence, so I guess the answer\u2019s no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d Dani asked. It couldn\u2019t be to simply pretty up the place. Though he was doing a damn fine job at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hands on hips, he faced the window. \u201cHas it really been a whole week?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The floor was too cold for her now, so she paced instead, rubbing her forearms to get the blood flowing again. And with that window broken, it would only get colder after nightfall. If they were still there after dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfraid so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was on her own. She\u2019d have to escape without any help. Which meant she was going to have to lay her hands on whoever walked through that door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this,\u201d David grumbled. \u201cI didn\u2019t know\u2026\u201d He reached for the marks, but his fingers passed right through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cY-y-yeah.\u201d Damned chattering teeth. She sounded like a cartoon character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His brow furrowed. \u201cAre you okay, or aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d And then to distract him from her slight case of hypothermia, Dani added, \u201cWhat do you remember about the abduction?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather hear how you became a witch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s easy.\u201d She completed another circuit of the room. Five strides one way, four strides the other. \u201cI was born this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returned to the door but didn\u2019t knock. Instead, he eyeballed its framing and the narrow seam along the bottom edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan I try?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David stepped out of her way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neon spell marks floated around the edges of the door, but maybe her witch magic could overpower the necromancer\u2019s spell. After almost an hour in this place, she was desperate enough to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few years, magic had gotten easier to control. If she wanted to straighten her hair, it fell in black, glossy strands. If she wanted her work scrubs ironed, the wrinkles vanished. If she wanted her fingernails painted purple with white polka dots, presto change-o. She was further in sync with her power every day. It was possible she was more powerful now than she\u2019d ever been. Wouldn\u2019t that be convenient?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani pressed the palm of her hand against the cold metal door. \u201cOpen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An opposing force blasted her flat on her back. Stunned, she lay there for a moment, focusing on drawing breath as foreign power fizzed like soda bubbles under her skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, lesson learned. Witches still couldn\u2019t do jack shit against a necromancer\u2019s spell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJesus. You okay?\u201d David dropped to his knees beside her, smack-dab in her no-touch zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No<\/em>. All this power battling within her was messing with her equilibrium. \u201cDon\u2019t touch me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight.\u201d His voice echoed in the quiet room. \u201cMessage received, Dani.\u201d He gave her a hurt look and put a whole lot of empty space between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani bit back an explanation. What was the use? She should have a blinking caution light over her head because touching her was hazardous to a person\u2019s health. It was easier if he thought she hated him. Better than her mutilating him with magic and being unable to stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani stood and drifted to the window to stare at dirt and light and a whole lot of nothing. \u201cI finished my shift,\u201d she said into the awkward silence. She\u2019d replayed her final conscious hour in her mind a thousand times since waking up in a strange bed. \u201cI walked out with Georgie. I got into my own car and drove away. But after that, nothing. Until now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t see anything?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSame here. They must have drugged me. Or hit me. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr spelled you.\u201d That was more likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They both heard it at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hopped away from the door. \u201cHoly shit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSounds like car tires.\u201d Two vehicle doors slammed shut. A couple of minutes later they heard footsteps on stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet behind me,\u201d David said, rising to his full height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, darlin\u2019.\u201d Dani shook her hands to get the blood flowing and then cracked her knuckles as power tingled into her fingertips. \u201cYou<\/em> get behind me<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the full novel from Amazon HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<3 Anna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Anna Abner Copyright 2013 by Anna Abner Cover Blurb: Daniela Ferraro can\u2019t touch people without hurting them. So when she wakes up in the Dark Caster\u2019s cell next to the one man guaranteed to mess with her heart, she will risk anything to escape. David Wilkes has no idea why he\u2019s been abducted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Free Chapter of Spell of Binding (Dark Caster #2)!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[832,30],"tags":[9,74,381,45],"class_list":["post-3830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-caster-series","category-spell-of-binding","tag-dark-caster-series","tag-ghost","tag-necromancer","tag-necromancy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SoB_1800x2700new.jpg","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Wkl2-ZM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3831,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions\/3831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annaabner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}