“Just assassins.”
His smile was vicious. “Who I will ruthlessly deploy to protect you.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” he said.
“You barely know me.” Well, he knew certain parts of her very well. Raven never developed feelings this intense or this fast in previous relationships.
“I know all I need to know. I know how I feel when I’m with you.”
She stood up and faced him. “And how’s that?”
“Like myself.”
She sucked in a breath.
His words hung in the air. Whatever she expected that wasn’t it. What had she expected? Flowery poetry? Compliments? Somehow, his simple response cut to her heart cleaner and sharper than any of the other options.
He ran his hands along her arms and shoulders to cup her face. “I lost myself in the shadows. I had grown accustomed to the darkness. When I walked into that diner, everything changed. You found a way to pull me out.”
“Actually, you tracked me down, abducted me and then offered me a deal so you could use me as bait and lure my twin brother out of hiding.”
“Memories I will cherish.” His smile blinded her.
“Did you orchestrate the customer to give me the Raven’s Eye?”
His gaze dropped to the priceless gemstone nestled against her cleavage. His expression told her the truth before he said a word. “Yes.”
“Who was he?”
Cole frowned and clamped his mouth shut as if the question legitimately stumped him. “Niall, the Underworld equivalent of my steward, I guess. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with such a task.”
Huh. She’d heard the name once before, but she’d spent more than one night at Cole’s place and never met Cole’s steward. Did Cole pick out his steward’s “human” attire, or did Niall prance around in dad sweaters in the underworld on his downtime?
Focus, Raven! What did Cole’s employee have to do with the necklace, besides act as the delivery mechanism? Argh. “Does the Raven’s Eye protect me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I feared you would sell it.”
She had other questions. Important questions. But she’d ask them later. She rose on her toes, gripped the edges of his armour and kissed him. He tasted of sin and coffee.
His hard stance and tense muscles relaxed, and he gathered her in his arms. He deepened the kiss and picked her up. She clung to him, wrapping her legs around his armoured waist. Instead of walking across the room to her bed, he slammed her against the nearest wall.
“That night.” He talked between kissing her lips, face and neck. “That night I pinned you to the dirty wall in the alley.” More dizzying kisses. “I wanted to do this.”
“Even back then?”
He leaned down to suck her nipple through the thin tank top. “Especially then, but even more now. I can’t get enough.”
She let her head fall back to the wall.
He gripped her undies and tore them from her body.
“I liked those.”
“I’ll buy you new ones.”
All complaints for her ruined panties fled, now consumed with a desperate need to feel him inside her. His hard shaft remained beneath a layer of armour.
“You’re too dressed for this.”
Cole grinned, his lips travelling along her skin. Shadows wrapped around her, caressing and holding her in place while Cole stepped back and stripped. The cape flowed to the floor, a whisper of fabric on the carpet. The armour followed and clanked on the floor.
He was gorgeous.
Now naked, and glorious, he watched her instead of stepping back into her heat.
The shadows moved to circle her breasts. With increasing pressure, they teased her nipples like phantom hands and teeth. Pleasure rippled through her body.
The shadows continued to stroke her as stronger, wider bands, held her splayed on the wall, open and exposed. Vulnerable to Cole’s watchful gaze. He continued to stand, rigid, hard and shaking with need. His gaze raked her body and without words, she knew he loved what he saw.
“Exactly how much of what your shadows touch do you feel?” she panted.
“Everything.” His shadows dipped lower, spreading across her thighs, caressing with undulations until they drove upward, straight to her core.
She cried out. Pleasure burst from her as Cole’s shadows filled her and expanded.
He drew them in and out and watched the stroking fire burning within her.
The pressure built. She cried out again and suddenly Cole was there. All of him. Wrapped in his arms, real flesh filled her and stretched her and moved within her, riding the aftershocks of her orgasm.
He gripped her thighs and thrust into her, hard, again and again.
Her first orgasm faded only to have her nerves shatter all over again when another, more powerful, wave of ecstasy rocked her.
Cole grunted and pumped into her. He rested his face in the crook of her neck and held her. They panted in unison, dragging in gulps of air, her body clenching around him.
He’d rocked her body like an earthquake and the aftershocks showed no signs of easing up.
She clung to him, not wanting to move, not wanting this moment to end. But he couldn’t hold her against the wall indefinitely. Eventually, reality would crash back.
Right now, though, the dark fae Lord of Shadows held her in his arms and chased away all her fears and insecurities.
No wonder he was addictive. She felt invincible in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“You’re nuts, but you’re welcome here.”
~ Steve Martin
Raven stumbled up the stairs. Exhaustion weighed down her feet. After she recovered from the wall sex, Cole insisted she practice forming portals and then practice accepting and denying his portals. Eventually “accepting his portal” morphed into something kinkier and when she finally found her breath again, she glanced at the clock and realized Sunday dinner was an hour away.
Cole had laughed at her when she pushed him away and insisted he go home to clean up and arrive by the front door. She scoured her body in the shower until her skin turned red to hide her afternoon activities from her family, but in reality, they probably knew exactly what she’d been up to all day, but trying not to flaunt it seemed like the right thing to do.
“Ah, Rayray. There you are.” Dad greeted her when she walked into the kitchen. “I have some info for you for the Edwards case.”
“You went to work on a Sunday?”
His gaze slid away. “We decided to go out for the day after your…guest…arrived. Mike’s suggestion.”
Her cheeks burned. “Oh.”
Well, at least they weren’t in the house to hear all the random sounds Cole got her to make. “Ah. Thanks.”
Dad nodded. “It’s a good thing Juni had a volleyball tournament.”
She perked up. “How’d they do?”
“Lost in the final. Juni’s dark on it because her missed serve gave the other team the winning point.”
“Balls.”
He nodded. “That’s the game, though. We keep telling her to practice her serve, but she’s so stuck on wanting to be the best hitter.”
“But the serve is the most important part of the game. If you don’t get it over, you can’t win.”
They sighed in unison, wordlessly agreeing.
“Anyway. Maybe…next time…you two could go to his place?” Dad suggested.
Oh, look. Her face was on fire again. “Sure, Dad.”
He flashed a quick smile and checked the steaming vegetables. The aroma of garlic and herbs infused the kitchen.
Mike bounced into the room and peered over her shoulder at the stove top. “Almost ready?”
Raven spun to her younger brother. “Exactly how did you inform our loving parents and impressionable sister I had a guest?”
Mike laughed and slipped past her. He maneuvered closer to an escape
route. “Relax. It was only me and Dad. Mom had already left with Juni for the tournament.”
He pulled the fridge open and grabbed a beer. He pointed the can at Raven first.
She shook her head.
Mike shrugged and passed one to Dad.
“Stop deflecting,” Raven said. “What did you say?”
Dad cleared his throat and a faint blush coloured his cheeks. “He said the Lord of Dong had arrived and we should leave.”
She pinned her brother with her best death glare. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
“No murders before Sunday dinner,” Dad said.
After they ate, she’d kill him.
Mike grinned, cracked open a can of beer and shut the fridge door with his foot. “No, you won’t.”
Gah. He was right. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Argh. She spun on her heel to set the table.
A familiar tingling nagged her senses. She straightened and dumped the cutlery on the table. Similar to Cole’s but different. Yet familiar. Without thinking, she grabbed the energy and pulled forward. A portal snapped open in front of her and a wave of fae energy blasted into the room. A conspiracy of ravens flew out of the gap between worlds, flapping their wings furiously and scattering through the room.
Her stomach clenched. The seductive lure of corvid essence wound around her. Come play, it called.
When the energy and feathers cleared, Bear stood in front of her with his arm draped over Chloe’s shoulders. The birds perched around the room on windowsills and chairs.
“Rayray,” her twin greeted her.
Her mouth dropped open.
“You’re not the only one who leveled up.” He winked.
She snapped her mouth shut and punched his arm. “Why didn’t you say something about this on Friday?”
“And ruin this moment? You look like you ate a Sefton beetle.”
How in Odin’s nutsack did he know about the Underworld dung beetles? And why was he leaving the birds in the dining room. Mom would have a fit. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” Bear shrugged, the movement almost identical to Mike’s. Though they had different biological fathers, little moments like that drove home how alike the two men were. “I thought we weren’t discussing Otherworld crap. You didn’t say anything to me.”
Ugh. Typical Bear. He never made the first move when it came to confiding.
Bear spotted Mike over his shoulder guzzling a beer. “Any for me?”
Mike grunted and Bear walked over for some brotherly conversation—placing Raven automatically on mute, apparently.
“Hey, Chloe,” she greeted Bear’s guest and Cole’s sister.
“Hello, Branwen. Will my brother be joining us?”
Apparently, everyone knew about her love life. That wasn’t embarrassing. No. Not at all. “Yes, I believe so.”
Chloe grinned, her stark white teeth contrasting with her ebony skin. “The Underworld is abuzz with stories of Odin and Cole supporting and protecting the new Corvid Queen.”
“Really?” Finally, a source of information who seemed willing to talk.
Birds hopped along the backs of the dining chairs and watched the food with their beady eyes. Bear turned to them and a wave of energy passed between the birds and him. They stopped eying the food, but didn’t leave, either.
Dad snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. I have some information on the Edwards case.”
Arghhhh. Dad! Not now. She smiled at Chloe, made a mental note to grill her later about the Underworld, and turned to her father. “What did you find?”
“I ran all the usual background checks and came up with nothing on Robert except his bankruptcy filing, but this time I went a little farther. I called my friend at the station. The police investigated your ex fifteen years ago for the grisly murder of his high school sweetheart.”
“What? How could you miss that?” She winced. Her tone came out a little more accusatory than intended.
A raven croaked.
Dad’s expression grew grim. “I know. I should’ve investigated him more thoroughly. I’m sorry I missed it. The information never came up on my searches because he was never convicted, let alone charged. The notes on the file indicate he was a person of interest until the autopsy results came back.”
She walked over to the screen door and slid it open. Cool air gushed in and the sound of rain splattering against the deck filled the kitchen and dining room. Pepe bleated and stepped onto the wood planks, his hooves a staccato clip-clop.
“Sorry, buddy. You can’t come in.” Raven turned to Bear. “The birds?”
Her twin scowled.
“If they poop on the china, Mom’s going to kill you.”
Bear cringed and flicked out his fingers. The birds croaked and one by one launched from their perches and flew outside. Raven slid the door closed, blocking the sounds of fluttering wings, Pepe’s whining and the pitter-patter of rain.
She turned to Dad. “Can you get a copy of the autopsy notes?”
“Already done. The analysis indicates she bled out from wounds inflicted by an animal.”
An animal attack? But that would mean… “Shifters?”
Dad nodded.
“A shifter killed Robert’s sweetheart and he went on to date two shifter women?”
Mike’s face twisted.
“He didn’t know you were a shifter.” Bear pointed his beer at her. Bear reached into the fridge and held out another one to Chloe. She shook her head and a small shudder wracked her lithe body. Not a fan of Mortal Realm brew, apparently.
“Still weird,” Raven said.
“Maybe he doesn’t know his fiancée is a shifter, either,” Mike said. “She hasn’t been forthcoming with that information.”
“Did he ever mention the dead girlfriend to you?”
“Don’t think so.” Raven shook her head. “What was her name?”
“Lenore.”
Raven shook her head again. “He rarely spoke about high school. I assumed he wanted to forget that period of his life like everyone else.”
“Speak for yourself,” Bear said. “By the way, that thing you asked me?”
“Yeah?”
“Large payment about six months ago to a shell company. I haven’t tracked the source of the company yet.”
Raven ignored Dad’s knowing glare from the kitchen and focused on Bear’s information. The timing of the payment lined up with Robert refinancing his home, which meant he most likely took money from his equity to make the payment and then started attending a monthly rendezvous. What did that money buy her ex?
What are you up to, Robert?
Before she could voice the many questions running around her head like feral squirrels, otherworld energy tingled against her skin. She identified the fae lord right away—Cole.
With a tug, she accepted the portal and it opened somewhere outside their home.
“Cole’s here,” she announced.
“Better hurry,” Mike said. “You don’t want to keep the Lord of D—“
Two steps and a solid punch to Mike’s gut shut him up long enough for her to escape the kitchen. Laughter roared behind her as she stalked to the front door.
“I hate you all,” she yelled over her shoulder.
“No, you don’t,” a chorus replied.
The light tinkle of Chloe’s bell-like giggle trailed after her.
Chapter Thirty
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”
~ Andrew Jackson.
A cold autumn winter wind blew through the trees and threatened to freeze her conspiracy. After discussing the Edwards and Clementine cases, Raven, Mike and their father decided they should investigate the puzzling Wednesday meetings with the Mystery Man before informing Kelly’s employer and worker’s comp of her fraudulent activities and tipping her off about their surveillance. They wanted to know what Robert was up to.
/> Dad hadn’t been pleased with Raven for going to Bear to illegally access information, but the oddest thing was watching the war between pissed off and proud carryout across his face. The pride wasn’t for Raven, either. Bear impressed Dad with his sleuthing skills.
Fast forward to now, Raven rode the tailwinds while freezing off her tail feathers.
When Kelly didn’t make the turn toward the café, Raven perked up. Maybe this wasn’t a waste of time after all.
Kelly’s car continued down Hastings and took the exit to the now-fallen Second Narrow’s bridge. Where in the Underworld was she going?
Kelly made a couple more turns and slowed down.
Raven’s birds perched on nearby trees and watched the stripper-teacher park the car and walk into a large, newly built home. Raven itched to get closer, but memory of the Other energy blocker sent unpleasant shivers through her collective bird bodies. She’d have to get Mike and see if he could get closer.
She drew her birds in. The dark energy spiraled around her, demanding yet desperate to do her bidding. The world tilted and reformed as she directed her essence back to the house. The shifting energy of the scythe called to her from the corner of the room. Her awareness for the weapon continued to expand over longer distances.
When her vision cleared and her stark basement bedroom walls stopped spinning, she opened the door and yelled up the stairs. “Mike!”
“What?” he yelled back.
“Get your stuff. I’m taking you to Hastings-Sunrise.”
“What part?”
In his defence, she’d named a fairly large area. “The part near Montrose Park. The section that borders Burnaby Heights.” Raven threw on the nearest outfit, shoved her phone in her pocket and waited for her brother to bounce down the stairs. His feet thumped against each step with the grace of an awkward rhinoceros.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Kelly went to a house, not a café. The street was packed with parked cars.”
Mike paused, brow furrowed. “It’s not the second Wednesday of the month.”
“I know. Maybe they called a special meeting. Maybe these events happen more often, and Robert only attends them once a month. I don’t know. What I do know is it’s Wednesday and shit is going down in that house.”
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