Soul Cage by Phaedra Weldon Page B

listening to Rhonda and Nona, see for himself
what he could do to make a difference in this 'effed up world. He
started his training seriously after Zoë and Rhonda had their first
falling out. And a romantic relationship developed between Rhonda
and himself, though he knew she was attracted to Dags
McConnell.
    Then came Dags' rescue
from Rodriquez which was the catalyst for Rhonda's subsequent
mastery of a spell she barely knew, one she'd written to destroy
the Grimoire , but
instead had fused it to Dags' soul.
    Her doing that had scared
the shit out of Joe and once the universe put them all back
together again, he renewed his interest in Zoë from afar, just as
he watched Rhonda renew hers of Dags.
    And how cruel was fate
when revealed that Zoë and Dags loved one another?
    It'd been
devastating.
    Joe had kissed Zoë only
the one time, in that basement. He'd felt it in the marrow of his
bones, and he knew she'd felt it as well. The power behind
it.
    And then it was over. And
he'd remained steadfast. A friend to her, and oddly enough to the
Symbiont / First Born that transformed her into a
Wraith.
    Now he was friends with
the Phantasm of the Abysmal Plane, his best friend was a vampire
and running from the very system he swore to defend, and his former
girlfriend was about to go all Dark Willow on one of the women he
admired more than his own mother.
    No. I don't think
so.
    Wish-Craft or not, Joe set
his gun aside on the counter as he felt the magic churn around
Rhonda. He wouldn't let her hurt Nona, or Jason, or anyone else for
a while. Something was very wrong with Rhonda—they'd all seen it.
What she'd done to Dags and Zoë was unforgivable. If she'd have
just shown some sign of remorse at her actions, he was sure he
could forgive her.
    But she hadn't.
    In fact, she'd started
treating Dags like a possession. And inside of him was a
very…powerful…possession.
    Abruptly he saw in his
mind's eye the thing he wanted. And just like all the other times
in his life where he desired something, wished for it, it came to
him.
    The power to shut her
down.
    He wasn't aware the
maelstrom Rhonda's magic began in the kitchen suddenly ceased.
During his wish knives had rattled in their butcher blocks but
never escaped. Pots and pans clanked together from where they hung
over the counter but never broke away to sail into the air like
missiles. Tiles rattled from the walls as the grout holding them in
place turned to dust but they simply fell to their cracked doom
instead of flying off. Every possible item she could have used in
the room shook at her command—
    But obeyed his.
    Silence rushed in and
Rhonda staggered back. What could have been a disaster had been
mitigated down to a few hundred dollars in tile
replacement.
    Sweat beaded on Rhonda's
forehead, on her neck and cheeks. Her wide eyes searched the faces
in front of her—but they were looking at each other.
    "Who—" Rhonda choked out.
"What the fuck is going on?! Who did that?"
    Jason pursed his lips. He
crossed his arms over his chest. "Looks to me like there's a witch
a hell of a lot stronger in here than you. And they don't like way
you behaved just then. So why don't we start over?"
    "I want to know who!"
Rhonda ignored Jason. She approached Nona but Nick blocked her way.
She looked at Joe and her expression fell— "No…."
    He clenched his jaw as he
softened his anger at her. Stopping her magic had been…easy. And he
wasn't going to let on how that scared the shit out of him. He
hadn't known he could do it, but he hadn't believed he couldn't.
Basics of magic. You believe. You can.
    You doubt, you
die.
    "Yes," he said as he moved
to stand in front of the other two. "Back the fuck off, Rhonda. No
one in this room has touched or messed with that damned Grimoire but you." He
was amazed how strong and solid his voice sounded while inside his
heart beat bruises against his chest. "Jason took Dags out to get
you a present—why the fuck can't you accept that?" Nona had