by Mary Hughes
She gasped in surprise.
Followed by a soft sigh of delight.
His whole body fired at the sound. Forget the key, forget the damned Quatrain. He wanted to sweep her into his arms for a thorough kissing. Return to the prep room for a helluva lot more.
“Lovely Lady Mystery,” Daniel purred. “Come away with me.”
She gave a throttled groan. “I want to. But…” Her lids rose. “But I know you’re trying to sidetrack me.”
He searched her eyes, trying to tell her he was doing this for her own good, that the black fire wizard was dangerous, but with the creep right there, that would only put her in more peril. Instead, he said “This chump is as romantic as a two-by-four. You don’t want this jerk—”
“Zeus.” She stiffened in his arms, her chin kicking up. “His name is Zeus, and I’m enjoying his company. Let me make this plain, My Hero. Go away.”
Her words knifed his heart. Daniel released her instantly, even though she wasn’t rejecting him, just trying to dazzle Zeus. Yet memory taunted, go away in high school, go away now…
Why did it hurt this much?
He stared into her gorgeous, angry green eyes. As a youth, he’d been infatuated with Zoe, then. But that was the past. Now, he could have as many women as he wanted.
Why does it hurt?
The truth struck him with a brilliance that cut. He didn’t want other women, and it wasn’t a past infatuation.
His heart wanted Zoe—and it had only ever wanted Zoe.
Daniel swallowed hard. After all the rejections in high school, he’d promised himself no more pain. Playing the field, he never got too close to anyone. The idea of settling on one woman, especially the one woman who mattered—who’d always mattered, the woman who could hurt him above all others?
Scared him shitless.
“Lady Mystery.” Glancing between Daniel and Zoe, the brutal wizard’s gaze lit with cunning. “Let’s you and me get out of here.”
The words were for her, but the ass was grinning at Daniel. And then, with two fingers, he slid a peek of something from his breast pocket. A mahogany curl.
A lock of Zoe’s hair.
With that perfect curl, a wizard could set a romantic mood tuned just for her—and an unscrupulous wizard could enthrall her into doing his will.
Zeus’ gaze, fastened on Daniel, was gloating. Brutal eyes danced. Now I can get the parchment from her whenever I want, they said. However I want.
Daniel growled, low in his throat. His feelings didn’t matter. The parchment didn’t matter. He wanted Zoe away from Zeus—now.
Blast subtlety.
Daniel grabbed her wrist and dragged her away. Catching her off guard, he got her all of two feet before she dug in her heels. Not stopping him, but slowing him. He simply dragged harder.
She hissed. “Your caveman tactics don’t impress me.”
“I’m not trying to impress you,” he hissed back. “I’m trying to rescue you.”
Away from Zeus. No, farther. Offsite altogether. He burned to drag her to a hotel where Zeus would never find her, and Daniel could ply her with drinks and take her to their room and plunder her…
“I can take care of myself.” Her wrist tingled under his hand.
Magic.
She’d accessed her wolf to stop him. His heart hiccupped. She was serious.
He’d never force a woman.
Daniel stopped hauling. His hand sprang open, but his fingers lingered on her wrist because, even now, he couldn’t keep from touching her. He spun to face her. “Not against this guy, you can’t.”
She searched his eyes. He let her read his concern for her, his entire focus on her green eyes, her very being—
“Let her go, asshole.” Zeus marched up behind Zoe and punched a palm into Daniel’s shoulder, knocking him back a step.
“Make me.” He muscled Zoe behind him. Part of him was aware he was behaving like an animal—specifically a wolf, challenging a rival to fight. Primitive and beastly, not romantic and chivalrous at all. But control and caution had all but abandoned him. He faced the black fire wizard with his chest heaving great gulps of oxygen.
Zeus’ jaw kicked out. “You think I won’t?”
He ripped a grin. “I’m hoping you will.”
“Why you—”
“Enough.” Zoe stalked out from behind him, glaring equally at Daniel and Zeus. “What is wrong with you two? Are you trying to cause a scene? My Hero, I’m going with Zeus—”
“Wait.” Daniel grabbed her shoulders and said the first thing he could think of to distract her. “Marry me.”
Chapter Six
In high school, Zoe had easy sex with boys who couldn’t get enough, until she met Tommy.
Captain of the football team and honor student, he’d had a great part-time job and a sweet motorcycle. He made her heart sing. Best of all, sex was awesome.
She’d thought he was “The One.” The boy she’d spend the rest of her life with, the boy for her. He was human, but hell, she was young and didn’t know all about mates, or even much of anything about them.
She’d given Tommy her girlish heart.
Then her period was late. Really late. Excited and scared, she told him that she thought she was pregnant, by him. That they were going to be parents.
She’d been excited. Happy.
He called her dumb. Said she was an animal, that she was the one who wanted all the wild sex, so she’d have to take the consequences.
Tommy dumped her then and there.
She was crushed. Sure, she’d been dumped a time or two before, but this was different. He was supposed to be the one.
He hadn’t felt the same way. Or he was too scared by the responsibility. Either way, he’d bailed.
That night, Daniel had come over to her house to help her study, as he’d been doing for a few weeks. He’d made it his personal goal to help her pass chemistry class so she could get into college. She’d thought his persistence was cute.
Daniel had known instantly that something was off. She could tell by the considering way he looked at her. But he hadn’t said anything, and she’d been grateful.
“So,” he said. “How’d you do on the midterm?”
“Midterm?”
“Yes. Remember, the chem midterm you promised me you’d study for every night?”
“Well…”
She hadn’t studied, not nearly enough. Because she’d wanted to be with Tommy, the boy she’d thought was the one, the boy who’d dumped her.
She’d flunked. But if she told Daniel that, he’d dump her faster than Tommy.
Somehow Daniel knew anyway.
“You didn’t study, did you?”
She shook her head. “And I…I didn’t pass.” She cringed.
“I see.” But instead of washing his hands of her, Daniel only nodded. “Well, we all make mistakes. Do things we wish we’d done differently.” Then he hit her with those starburst eyes. “What’s wrong, Zoe? You can tell me. I won’t judge you.”
She’d broken down and confessed. About Tommy dumping her. About maybe being pregnant. And Daniel…he examined her face, so seriously, so carefully…and said…
“Marry me.”
The sweetest words. She’d wanted so much to hear them burst impulsively from Tommy’s lips. She had not wanted them to come from a dork, especially since he’d had to think it over.
“You don’t mean it,” she said. “We don’t love each other.”
“We don’t?” His gaze had shifted to her window, though he didn’t seem to be looking out of it. Finally he nodded, and returned his gaze to hers. “Tell me this. Do you want to pass your class? Honestly, Zoe?”
The class had been all she had left. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll stick with you until we get it.”
And he’d turned to the next chapter.
She’d been amazed and heartened that he hadn’t abandoned her. Possibly pregnant, rejecting his proposal—he hadn’t meant it, but th
e rejection still must’ve stung him—and yet he stayed with her.
Most importantly, he’d said we. Not, “I’ll stick until you get this.” But, “I’ll stick until we get this.”
Now, tonight, again, Daniel said, “Marry me.”
The sweetest words. She’d been waiting years to hear them burst impulsively from a man’s lips.
No. She’d been waiting years to hear them burst impulsively from Daniel’s lips.
But like this, so cold, so calculating…
Zoe stepped back as if struck. The blood drained from her, her body like ice. If he’d said, I love you, first, or even once looked at her… But his masked face was turned toward Zeus, his narrowed gaze locked with the other man.
The words were even more hollow than last time.
“You don’t mean it.” She whispered, voice hoarse.
Daniel was only trying to distract her. From Zeus? Or from the key?
The one boy who’d had no agenda beyond simply liking her was now a man who didn’t care, like the rest.
Her heart shriveled in her chest.
Zoe put a hand to her breastbone. She didn’t understand all these roiling feelings.
But she was a wolf in the line of alphas and a business owner to boot. Resolve stiffened her spine, and she dropped her hand. Stick to the original plan. Find out Zeus’ game. If he had the key, get it back however she had to. Use the parchment to get a taste of romance.
And then get on with the rest of her suddenly barren-looking life.
* * *
Daniel was horrified when, at his impromptu proposal, Zoe’s face turned white. He wished with all his might her green eyes would light with a stubborn glint. That she’d straighten her back and snap a “Not on your life” at him, no matter how bad that boded for him or cooperation.
He’d take a thousand glints over a single moment of shock.
Instead, she’d whispered, “You don’t mean it.”
If only she knew how wrong she was.
But then, she turned to Zeus, held out her hand and said, “Let’s find someplace private.”
Daniel’s lungs seized.
The ass sneered triumphantly at him, inviting a punch to the nose.
Zoe tapped a playful finger on Zeus’ jaw to turn his attention to her. Curling a flirty come-hither at him, she sauntered off.
Daniel mentally smacked his forehead as he realized her game plan. She thought she was going to take Zeus to the prep room and use seduction to get the key from him. Stun the brutal-faced mage with her gorgeous body.
But as stunning as her body was, with her mahogany curl, the mage could turn the tables on her in an instant.
Zeus could bewitch her, literally.
The thought turned Daniel’s lungs to ash. But he’d be damned if he’d let it get that far. Which meant getting the key now.
He bulled after Zoe, stopped her by grabbing her shoulders, and whirled her to face him. “I’m sorry, Lady Mystery. I got carried away by your beauty. Your feelings are not to be trifled with, and you’re not an object.” If he’d had time, he’d have separated his apology from what he was about to do. But speed was of the essence. “Though any man would be glad to fight for your attention.”
On the word attention, he brushed his wand in its pocket, priming the spell. He was a wizard prince. If he couldn’t make a physical bridge to retrieve the key, he’d make a magical one.
In his periphery, Zeus was scowling.
Daniel knew the mage had felt the shift in magical energies, but he was already a step ahead.
“I’m just so glad I found you.”
On the word “found” he pointed the primed finger at Zeus. The brutal-faced wizard’s eyes widened. He pressed a hand to his belly, over his cummerbund.
So that was where he’d hidden the key. Didn’t matter now.
“Found you here.” Daniel touched his finger to his unburned breast pocket and immediately felt the added weight of the key drag the inside lining down.
Zeus’ hand clutched his cummerbund. “You stole it.” The shock in his eyes as he dug at the black satin was almost comical.
“I certainly did. It’s golden.”
Zeus’ eyes in his ripped mask narrowed dangerously. He drove a hand into his jacket pocket. Summoning his wand no doubt, but it was far too late. Golden had locked the key in Daniel’s pocket. Zeus couldn’t steal it back, at least not via magic. Daniel gave the wizard a triumphant grin. Not as good as punching him in the nose, but he’d won.
Giddiness rushed hot in his veins. He had the key, the means to take the parchment now in his grasp. All he had to do was seduce Zoe’s permission…
The very thought chilled him.
Zeus’ next words chilled him even more.
“You think you’ve won. But I’ll make her hand over the Quatrain.” The brutal-faced mage stalked to the nearest table and set a hand on a silver chafing dish.
Or, more specifically, cupped the small flame beneath it. Fire. He was going to cast a fire spell. He’d have to conceal it from mundanes or risk the Council’s headsman, so it couldn’t be too destructive.
Unless he was just that pissed off he didn’t care.
For himself, Daniel could counter anything the bastard could throw. But if he wasn’t fast enough to protect Zoe…
Heart thudding, he laced fingers through hers. “We have to get out of here.”
She resisted. “The key—”
“I have it.”
She shocked him with a delighted laugh. “Well, all right then.” She shocked him even more when she took the lead, pulling him into motion so hard he nearly lost his feet. “This way.”
He stumbled after her as she dodged guests munching beside the tables, headed for a small, almost invisible doorway near the corner, not the one they’d used to get to the prep room.
“You really pissed him off, getting the key,” she said as she zig-zagged. “He wants to murder you.”
“Not literally?”
“Yep. Or at least severely maim you.” Her lustrous hair swayed as she zipped around a knot of people admiring the parchment. “Believe me. I can smell it coming off him. Um, I mean practically smell it.”
Daniel smiled. She wasn’t aware he knew she was a shifter.
But she was right. When he glanced back, Zeus thundered after them, death in his eyes. It didn’t take a shifter to read his intent—hurt Daniel, capture Zoe. Which meant getting out of his line of fire as fast as possible.
“Where are we going?” Despite being chased by an evil wizard, Daniel liked the feel of Zoe’s hand in his. Liked the wicked feel of getting away with something together. This was almost fun.
As if she shared his delight, she tossed a grin over her shoulder. “You’ll see. Damn, he’s catching up. Can you do something to distract him?”
“A smoke screen? Sure.” He glanced around. Witnesses here prevented him from smacking Zeus back with pure power. But Daniel had combat magic training and knew how to use his environment. He’d nudge natural things to help him, with the mundanes none the wiser.
As Zoe turned front, Daniel touched his wand then swept a finger at a row of tea-candle-lit chafing dishes and muttered under his breath, “Smolder.”
Smoke belched from the flames, charring the dishes’ metal to black. The back of the room filled with a thick, billowing haze. The caterers scrambled for fire extinguishers, although the magical smoke would dissipate as soon as Zoe and Daniel were gone.
She flashed him a startled glance. “Wow. When you say smoke screen, you really mean it. How did you do that?”
“Umm…”
He was saved from having to think of a reply when, as they sprinted and dodged the final yards for the door, Zeus practically crowd-surfed to lunge for them.
Daniel spun, skidding to a stop. His brain shuffled facts. No overt magic, not with witnesses. As the mage burst out to open floor behind them, one option leaped to mind. The fact I’ve been itching to do this? Bonus.
&nb
sp; He made a fist and, on an arm as rigid as a flag pole, raised it to Zeus’ nose level. The evil wizard’s momentum practically drove his face into Daniel’s knuckles. Wham.
Zeus fell to his knees, hands clapping to his cowled face. Blood and curses ran freely from underneath.
Daniel’s knuckles rang with pain. But damn, that felt so good. He shook his hand, shaking off the blow, and admitted to himself he’d wanted to do that since he’d first seen the brutal man’s hand on Zoe.
“Idiot macho man.” Yet her tone held an element of admiration. “Come on.” She grabbed his wrist and yanked him from Zeus’ crumpled form.
They ducked out the small side door. Daniel found himself in a narrow, windowless corridor. A couple spooned against one wall.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Old servants’ passage. This way.” Zoe pulled him faster.
They’d gone maybe fifty feet when the door slapped open behind them, accompanied by Zeus’ roar. “The woman is mine!”
Now Daniel had a problem. Bare corridor meant no props he could use against Zeus. No crowd between them meant no cover. And with that couple as potential witnesses, he had to be cautious about using his power. Although, they didn’t appear to be paying much attention. They’d barely looked up at the evil wizard’s roar, maybe thinking it was part of some dramatic game Daniel, Zoe, and Zeus were playing.
Problem was, if the other wizard was evil enough, killing a few witnesses might be merely collateral damage.
Burst all the lights? Darkness would hide his magic from the mortal couple. But again, slinging magic might hit innocent bystanders. Daniel couldn’t chance hurting the couple.
“We need to hide,” he whispered to Zoe.
“Right. This way.”
She lunged to her right, then reared back, which shot his heart into his throat. No, she was just opening a heavy metal door. She ducked out, and he dived through after her.
Fresh air blew sweet and cool in his face. He was surprised to see they were in a private outdoor garden in the middle of the villa.
The courtyard was empty except for another couple making out. Hells bells, why couldn’t people get their romance on inside the ballroom? Pulse racing, Daniel swept a quick reconnaissance. The foliage was mostly climbing vines and teacup bushes, useless for hiding. They were still vulnerable.
