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“They’re magical artifacts,” Anton explained loftily as he retrieved some incense from a carved wooden box. “I’m a collector, you know.”
“You deal in artifacts too, don’t you?” I asked even though Malaki had already given us the answer to that question.
He inclined his head. “I dabble.”
“Yeah, with demons,” Ty interjected bitterly. “And you know what happens when you play with fire like that?”
“I don’t see what business it is of yours,” Anton responded bitterly. “I’m just trying to earn a living.”
“I’ll tell you what business it is of mine.” Ty crossed the room in four long strides and his tall, muscular frame seemed to dwarf Anton’s.
The agent backed up a couple of steps, his gaze flicking to me as if looking for help.
I gave a noncommittal shrug.
“It’s hunters like Alana and I,” Ty went on, “who get sent in to clean up the mess after a deal from someone like you goes awry. We have to risk our lives every day in a war we have no business being in because of greedy people looking to make a fast buck.”
“I—”
Ty was on a roll and clearly not in the mood to be interrupted. “And it’s because of people like you,” he continued, “that hellhounds are roaming the streets freely and able to prey on humans. They’re not poodles, you know. They kill people and those deaths will be on your hands.”
I don’t know what I’d been expecting from the witch—an apology, maybe. It might have counted for something if he’d looked contrite.
He didn’t.
If anything, Anton looked angry at being called out on his business acumen.
He glared at Ty. “I haven’t personally raised any hellhounds, nor do I intend to. It’s not up to me what people do with artifacts after they purchase them. It’s not my responsibility. If they didn’t buy them from me, they’d get them elsewhere. If you want the demon’s location, then you’d better keep quiet and let me get on with the spell.”
Ty stared at the witch in disgust then stormed into the other room.
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“Your partner has quite the temper, doesn’t he?” Anton said sourly. “How do you put up with him?”
“It would be a good idea for you to take your own advice and shut up about now,” I said then walked into the living room in search of Ty.
He stood at the window, staring out, his arms folded. I moved closer but made sure I still had Anton in my sights. I trusted him about as far as I could throw him. I wouldn’t have put it past him to call the demon and warn him that we were coming. He seemed the type of man who would do anything to save his own neck.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “Are you okay?”
When Ty turned, a frown marred his forehead. He twirled his Stetson then gave an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry for the outburst in there. I shouldn’t have let him get to me. I know better.”
“You spoke the truth. He’s the one who should be apologizing for his actions.”
“Hell will freeze over before that happens,” Ty scoffed.
“I think you might be right about that.”
Ty closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wow. It’s been one hell of a shitty day.”
My stomach pitched uncomfortably at his words. While it hadn’t been the best of days, one part of it had been great—or so I’d thought. Ty opened his eyes and must have caught something in my expression that gave him pause. He crossed the room until he stood in front of me, then he cupped my jaw, his touch firm and possessive. Even though I tried not to, I leaned into his touch, seeking more of it. We hadn’t known each other long, but his words and actions already had the power to cut me like a knife and that scared the hell out of me. The heat that radiated from his hand wrapped around me like a warm blanket, however, comforting me in a way I hadn’t known I’d needed.
“Christ, Alana, I wasn’t referring to us,” he assured. “The time we spent together was amazing. What I meant was that I’ll be glad when this assignment is over—and not because I want to be away from you. Don’t think that. I just want to get back to what I’ve been trained to do—hunt vampires. We shouldn’t be tracking demons and running from hellhounds. We’re not equipped to deal with them. I’m terrified that we’ll come up against something soon that I won’t be able to protect you from.”
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“I don’t want you to feel responsible for me, Ty. You don’t have to protect me. I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. I’ve lasted this long.”
His smile was as intimate as one of the kisses we’d shared earlier. “I know, but I can’t help that I want to protect you and I like doing it. I like it a whole hell of a lot.”
In my peripheral vision, I could see that Anton was still moving around the room, preparing to do the spell, but I paid him little more attention than that. Most of my focus remained on Ty. It was easy to get lost in the way he looked at me—with a burning passion that made my heart jolt.
I was in way over my head.
“What are we doing, Ty?” I asked, needing the answer yet afraid of it at the same time.
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “But whatever it is, it feels good, doesn’t it? It feels right?”
“It feels right,” I repeated on a whisper.
Anton cleared his throat. “If you two have finished making googly eyes at each other, I’m ready to begin the spell.”
Ty took his hand from my cheek. Anger blazed in his eyes, but this time he held in his retort. I, however, couldn’t have kept my mouth shut if I’d tried.
“For Christ’s sake, Anton, get on with it, or I’ll throw you to the hellhound myself,” I bit out.
Ty threw his head back and laughed. The warm, rich sound of it made me quiver, as if I’d been touched. I wished we were back in the motel so we could close the doors on the world and spend more time alone, but I knew that was a long way off. We had a demon to catch and little time to waste, even though being alone with Ty would have been far from a misuse of my time.
I walked back into the other room and watched as Anton knelt before the altar, his eyes closed. I felt, rather than saw or heard, Ty’s presence behind me. It was as if I’d become attuned to him now, a gravitational pull that drew me to him.
“What do you need us to do?” I asked, wanting this over and done with as quickly as possible.
When Anton opened his eyes, his impatient gaze met mine. “Just watch and learn.”
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When Ty growled out an expletive, I bit back a grin, as I considered the reason for Anton’s attitude. It wasn’t our fault he’d chosen the wrong person to do business with. We were trying to help him. We might want something from him, but we’d also do our damndest to keep him safe—however much he might test my resolve.
The spell was simple and took little time. I’d seen it performed several times in the past, but with all the preparation work he’d done, Anton acted as if it was a much bigger deal.
Incense burned on a table near the altar, infusing the air with the calming scent of sandalwood.
Eyes closed, Anton spoke the spell aloud, which consisted of little more than a few chants repeated over and over. All the while, he held aloft a large amber-colored crystal tied to a piece of string. He swung the crystal in a circular motion over a map of Los Angeles that sat on the floor in front of his crossed legs.
His chanting grew louder as the spell progressed and the swinging motion of the crystal became faster. After another moment, Anton opened his eyes and lowered his hand, just enough that the crystal touched the map.
“Got it,” Anton declared proudly. “It looks like the grimoire is still in LA.”
“That narrows it down,” Ty said dryly.
I
studied the map. “You’re not telling us anything we don’t already know. We need an address.”
“You’ll get one,” Anton said, shooing me back. “Give me some space to work.”
When he closed his eyes again, Ty met my gaze and blew out a frustrated breath. Anton had to be the most annoying man I’d ever met, witch or otherwise. He resumed the chants, but this time they were louder and went on for considerably longer. When he finally opened his eyes, he flashed a cocky grin.
“Got a pen?”
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Chapter Seven
The address that Anton gave us was for a house in Beverly Hills. I called the council to send over an operative to keep an eye on the witch, and after he’d arrived and we’d explained the situation to him, Ty programmed the details into his car’s navigation system, then we hit the road. I’d asked my handler to find out what he could about the property and its owner so that we knew what we were walking into.
The information he gave us wasn’t very helpful.
The house was a large, five-bed, five-bath property worth several million dollars. The owner had passed away a couple of weeks previously and the house was currently in probate.
That meant it was sitting empty until all claims on it could be resolved, hence it was the perfect hideout for a demon. What that meant to us was that we didn’t have to worry about any humans being caught in the crossfire, and as demons didn’t play too well with others, we weren’t likely to encounter any other supernatural beings, either.
Hellhounds were a different story.
If the demon was keeping the grimoire at the house and hadn’t bothered to cloak it, he was either cocky enough to believe he was untouchable or he had protection—protection in the form of hellhounds guarding the property. That didn’t bode well.
We were a couple of minutes away from the address when my cell phone rang. As my handler had called a couple of times since we’d left Anton’s, I assumed he was calling back and didn’t bother to check the display.
“Hello?”
“You don’t call. You don’t write. Are you trying to give me a complex?”
A smile spread across my face as the familiar voice of my hunting partner reached my ears. “Caleb?”
Ty glanced away from the road to meet my gaze, but his expression remained unchanged.
Caleb chuckled in my ear.
“I’ve been gone a grand total of six days and you have to ask my name? You’re hell on my confidence. You know that?”
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I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see it. “Your confidence levels are the last thing you should be worried about. Your brain cells on the other hand…”
“Ouch. I missed you too, brat.”
I smiled wider. “How are you?”
“Good as new.”
“Really?”
I was doubtful that he’d fully healed. More likely Caleb had got tired of lying in a hospital bed and had declared himself fit and healthy, regardless of his doctor’s prognosis.
“That’s why I’m calling,” he went on. “I left the hospital this morning and I’m on my way to LA. I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”
My stomach lurched and the smile fell from my face.
“Yeah? That’s great, Caleb.”
I worried that the lack of enthusiasm would show in my voice. While I was happy that Caleb had healed enough from his injuries that he could come back to work, his arrival meant that my time with Ty was about to end.
“Sure is. Text me your motel address and I’ll meet you there, okay? See you soon.”
Caleb hung up before I could reply.
“That was my hunting partner, Caleb,” I said into the sudden silence of the car.
Ty chuckled. “I got that. How is he?”
“Good. Actually, he’s on his way to LA.”
I waited for Ty’s reaction, knowing that however he responded would give me an indication of his feelings toward me, but all he said was, “Yeah? Be good to meet him.”
His reply, though brief, was the answer to my unspoken question and confirmed what I’d already suspected, even though I’d hoped for a different outcome. Our time together really was over.
And Ty was just fine with that.
“Yeah,” I replied, my voice a dull monotone.
I turned to stare out of the window, the disappointment and sense of loss causing a painful knot in my stomach. I’d known this day was coming since we’d first met, but now that it was right on top of me, I wondered how I was going to get through it.
“We’re here,” Ty said a few moments later. “How are we going to play this?”
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I drew in a calming breath and forced a stiff smile on my lips in an effort to show him how unconcerned I was.
“Looks like we’re going over the wall,” I said, peering at the house beyond. “We’ll see if we can get around the back. It might give us the element of surprise.”
“Good call.” Ty took off his Stetson then threw it in the back seat before opening the car door, but before he got out, he leaned across and placed a soft kiss on my lips. When he pulled away, his eyes searched mine, then he said, “Promise me you’ll be careful in there.”
The kiss both excited and annoyed me. It sent my pulse racing while at the same time caused an ache in my chest. Each mixed signal I received from him had my mind working overtime. I’d never met a man as confusing and I realized that the only way to find out what he truly wanted from me was to ask him. But now wasn’t the time for a heart-to-heart. Our talk would have to wait until we’d dealt with the demon and retrieved the grimoire.
“I promise I’ll be careful.”
I turned away from his searching gaze then got out of the car before I said something I might come to regret.
The wall that surrounded the front of the property was about six feet high. The gates that flanked the driveway were lower, but on closer inspection, we realized they were too exposed.
A large tree obscured part of the wall, so that had to be our way in. I wasted no time scaling the wall then dropped down into the garden. Ty was right behind me.
We hid behind the tree, waiting for any indication that the demon or anyone had seen our arrival. Nothing stirred, but the familiar and uncomfortable sensation skittered along my spine, informing me that a hellhound was nearby. Fear tried to edge its way into my consciousness, but I fought it back. I had to stay focused on our mission and I couldn’t do that if I let my emotions get the better of me.
Ty indicated the pathway that led around to the back of the house. I nodded to show I understood, took a deep breath then made a run for it, keeping my body hunched low until I reached the side of the house. I straightened then waited for Ty to follow. As soon as he was at my side, we slowly made our way around the house. The nearer we got, the more the uncomfortable sensation in my stomach grew stronger.
Before I moved on, Ty grabbed my arm, halting my progress. When I turned to see what he wanted, he swooped down to capture my mouth in a sizzling, no-holds-barred kiss that www.totallybound.com
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was almost brutal in its intensity. I felt it in every part of me. When he leaned away, the raw emotion in his eyes stole my breath.
“I should have said something in the car after Caleb called. I didn’t and if something were to happen…”
He looked toward the house then back at me again and I started to shake my head.
“Don’t say that. Don’t even think it. Nothing is going to happen. We got this.”
“Need to say it anyway.” The intensity in Ty’s beautiful hazel eyes overwhelmed me.
“You mean something to me, Alana. If we had time…”
I held my breath as Ty paused, a hand raking through his t
hick hair. His brow was furrowed, as if he was searching for the right words.
“In time,” he corrected, “I know you’d mean everything to me. But for that to happen, you have to give me a chance. I think we have something here. Don’t throw it away. Explore it with me.”
My heart swelled with joy. It was all that I’d wanted to hear, yet everything I’d believed I wouldn’t. My arms trembling, I pulled him to me, then buried my hands in his hair and kissed him long and hard. When we parted, Ty’s grin was resplendent.
He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and smiled gently. “Guess that means you’re willing to take a chance on me.”
“Yes,” I informed him. “But what about Caleb? How will we…?”
“Don’t worry about that now. We’ll work out the details later, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered.
With a feather-light caress, Ty stroked the back of his fingers along my cheek. “That’s my girl.”
The statement made my stomach lurch with excitement. The idea that I was, in fact, Ty’s girl—that this strong, sweet, handsome man wanted to take the time to explore what we could be—sent my spirits soaring. I couldn’t believe I’d gotten so lucky.
We walked around to the back of the property, and when there was no sign of any hellhounds, I wondered if they could sense our presence the way that we could sense theirs. If so, where were they? It was much too quiet. I didn’t like it.
As I made an effort to regain my focus, I barely noticed the swimming pool that took up much of the space in the back yard—even the impressive view of the city was lost on me.
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But we weren’t there for the view.
Ty and I stopped before we got to a set of patio doors, one of which was open. I tried to calm down as we neared the door, but I wasn’t very successful. My heart was beating nineteen to the dozen and I wasn’t sure if that was as a result of the kiss we’d just shared or my nervousness over what we were about to face. It was probably a little of both.
My stake held in one hand and a bottle of holy water in the other, I edged nearer to the doors. I was about to step inside when Ty pulled me back.
“Me first,” he mouthed, shouldering his way in front of me.
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