by Lisa Edmonds
He moved carefully and gently. It was wonderful, but I wanted and needed something else. “Harder,” I gasped. “Faster.”
He bent over to run his lips across my back and I shuddered. “Are you sure?” His voice was deep and growly and it made me crazy. “Your stomach….”
“I’m healed,” I told him breathlessly. “Please, Sean. Please don’t go slow.”
His fingers dug into my hips hard enough to leave bruises and suddenly the brakes were off. I grabbed the bedding as hard as I could as he growled—a deep, rumbling werewolf growl—that almost sent me over the edge. I forgot about everything else as the pleasure rose toward a crescendo. I called his name over and over and begged him to go even faster.
This time, I had none of the second thoughts that held me back last night. He reached around to stroke me and I came with a wail. A heartbeat later, he snarled and emptied himself inside me. We fell over onto the bed, gasping for breath.
“Oh my God,” Sean rasped.
“Mmm-hmmm.”
I lay on the bed while he went to the bathroom to clean up. He had, I thought appreciatively, a thoroughly magnificent butt.
When Sean came back, he climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m glad I went to Hawthorne’s last night,” he said, biting my earlobe gently.
I laughed. “Me too. And I’m glad Charles was too busy to see me. This turned into a really fantastic night—well, a really fantastic day.”
“What brought you in to see the vampire?”
“A matter related to one of my cases.” I shrugged lazily and glanced at the clock. “It’s almost two. Don’t you have to be at work at three?”
He groaned. “Are you kicking me out of bed?”
“We have to get up at some point. You’ve got to get to work, and I’m supposed to be getting a text about seeing Charles tonight. And I’ve got a client to see.” And a ghost to check on, though I didn’t mention that.
“You did get a couple of messages.”
“What? Why didn’t you wake me up?” I scooted away from him to grab my phone off the nightstand.
“I thought you needed your sleep.”
I sat cross-legged on the bed and checked my messages. There were two. The first one was from Bryan, who’d texted me around eight a.m. Meeting with Mr. V at midnight. Car is out front, key in the mailbox. Sean Maclin’s car is in your driveway.
Shit. I’d told them Sean had dropped me off. Now Bryan knew that not only had I lied, but that Sean had stayed with me. My face burned.
“What is it?” Sean watched me, frowning.
“Nothing.” Damn it, I didn’t answer to Bryan for anything, least of all my sex life. It was none of his business if Sean stayed with me. I supposed I shouldn’t have lied, but Bryan had pushed me about whether or not Sean had dropped me off and maybe I resented him acting like it was any of his business. I wasn’t really clear on my motives for lying. In any case, I would have to face Bryan tonight at Hawthorne’s in order to see Charles. Fantastic.
Also, Sean’s last name was Maclin. Good to know. Bryan must have had someone run the tags of the vehicle when they saw it in the driveway. Maybe he was concerned about my safety, but whatever his reason, it felt like an egregious invasion of my privacy.
I scowled and fired back a terse text: Ok will meet C at midnight.
“Alice?”
I looked up from my phone. “Bryan texted me a meeting time for Charles when he came by. He was wondering why your car was parked in my driveway. And your last name is Maclin.”
Sean sat up. “And you told him I dropped you off.”
“Yes.”
“Is this going to cause problems?”
“Why should it? I don’t owe anyone an explanation for who I sleep with.”
Again Sean looked surprised. Then he grinned.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you before, Alice.”
“You’re probably right.”
He laughed. I smiled briefly.
The second text was from Natalie. Hi! Saw your note. Sorry I fell asleep. Call when you get a chance. She signed the message with a smiley face.
I blew out a relieved breath. It looked like she didn’t remember anything about manifesting any magic.
Sean moved over to me on his hands and knees and kissed me so hard that I dropped my phone. “What was that?” I asked breathlessly.
“I have to go to work, but at the risk of being cliché, I’d really like to see you again.”
“In what way?” If he was interested in working out a bang-buddy arrangement, I would be willing to consider it.
“How about tonight, after your meeting with Vaughan? I’ll be off work. We can have some drinks and talk about beer and music or whatever else is on your mind.”
I stared at him. “You’re talking about an actual date.”
Sean’s mouth quirked. “Yes, an actual date. What we do after that—if anything—is up to you.”
“I’m not really looking for a relationship,” I told him.
“Me neither, but I think we both had a good time. I’d like to get to know you better. How about one date, and then you decide where we go from there.”
The sex had been very satisfying, and it was a tempting offer, but there was something in Sean’s eyes that made me wary. I’d invited him into my bed thinking we were on the same page about this being a one-night deal. Maybe we’d started out that way, but it looked like he might be on a different page now, possibly a whole other chapter, and I wasn’t even sure my book had that chapter in it.
Still, I could try to let him down easy. “Let me think about it.”
He gave me a wolfish smile. “Did I not pass the audition?”
I was quiet for a few moments. “I thought we were clear about the plan for how this would go.”
“Plans can change.”
“Not mine.” Mine was simple: stay cautious, stay under the radar, stay alive.
Sean leaned forward. “Give me a chance to change your mind.”
“I said I would think about it.”
He got up and started pulling on his clothes. I shamelessly watched the reverse striptease and couldn’t help but feel a little sad when he was dressed.
As he sat on the bed putting on his shoes, he turned to me. “Well, you know my last name, but I don’t know yours.”
I hesitated but saw no reason not to tell him. He had my address; he could find out easily for himself. “Worth.”
“Alice Worth.” He finished tying his shoes. “Can I have your number, Alice?”
I tilted my head and considered. “Why don’t you give me yours? If you need to get me a message, you can call Hawthorne’s, and they’ll see that I get it.”
“You don’t give an inch.” Strangely, he was grinning.
“Nope.”
Sean gave me his number and I put it in my phone under Wolf. He saw the nickname and laughed.
He rose, then bent down to give me a sizzling kiss. When he drew back, his eyes were gold. It occurred to me to wonder if the wolf in him enjoyed the idea of a chase. Too bad for him that I had no intention of playing along.
He moved his lips to my ear. “Give me a call,” he said softly.
“Maybe.”
He went to the door of my room, then turned back. We looked at each other.
“Have a good day at work, Alice,” he said finally.
“You too, Sean.”
He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else, and then he was gone.
Chapter 8
I showered and washed my hair. When I got out, I wrapped myself in a bathrobe and spent several minutes straightening the mess left behind by this morning’s magical hurricane. I stacked my files, put my dirty clothes back in the hamper, returned the scattered items to my nightstand and dresser, and hung the pictures back on the wall.
After I got dressed and dried and braided my hair, I ate a sandwich while setting out a re
placement change of clothes for my go-bag.
With my preparations finished, I called my client.
“Hello!” Natalie’s greeting was warm and cheerful. I felt a pang of guilt that she had no memory of what had happened last night. “How are you feeling? I’ve been so worried about you.”
“Doing fine,” I told her. “I’m ready to come take a look at that library.”
“I’m glad you’re okay. I haven’t tried to go in there.”
“I’m sorry about that, but until we know what’s going on, I think we’d better err on the side of caution.”
“Good thinking. I can’t believe I was living in this house for so long with those wards.” I could hear the fear and anger in Natalie’s voice. I could understand the feeling; even knowing the wards had been keyed not to harm her, anyone not used to being around magic would have good reason to be afraid of spells designed to kill without warning or mercy. Hell, I’d been using magic since I was four and blood magic since I was twelve, and it was enough to rattle me.
“Well, it made for an interesting afternoon. What time should I come over?”
“Whenever you want. I’m here all day.”
“I’m about ready to head out. I can be there in about an hour.”
“Awesome.” A pause. “Is Malcolm coming?”
“Yes. He’s going to help me with the wards. See you in a few.”
We said good-bye and disconnected. I put on my jewelry: rings, charm bracelet—with assorted spells—and a monogram necklace with a pendant shaped like the letter A.
Time to let my new sidekick out. I picked up my crystal earrings from the tray on the nightstand. I could feel Malcolm’s energy buzzing in my palm. Yesterday, unsure of how much energy would be discharged, I’d used a circle to contain Malcolm when I released him, but it hadn’t been necessary. Today, I simply held the earring and said, “Release.”
With a yell, Malcolm popped into existence three feet in front of me. The wave of magic staggered me back a half step. Unlike yesterday, when he’d been disoriented and near frantic, today he just looked surprised. He also looked far more substantial than he did before. Hmm. I suddenly wondered if he’d gotten a boost at the same time I did when I was having sex with Sean. I’d been wearing the earrings and it seemed logical. I flushed.
“Hey, Alice.” Malcolm moved back and forth slowly. “I feel…different, more solid and much stronger. Did you try another spell?”
“Sorta.” He categorically did not need to know where the energy boost had come from. “Was it less rough on you this time?”
“Yes.” He looked relieved. “It feels like it’s only been a few minutes this time. The time before….” He shuddered. “It felt like forever, and like a split second too, if that makes any sense. It really messed with my head.”
I tried to wrap my brain around that and couldn’t. “I’ll have to take your word for it. I’m glad it wasn’t as bad this time. I’ll look into a different spell as soon as I get a chance.”
“So how long was I in there?”
“It’s tomorrow afternoon. After I put you in the earring, I went to meet the vamp, but he was busy. I’ll be seeing him tonight. Then I, uh, got some sleep, called Natalie to let her know we’re on our way over, and here you are.”
“Cool.” Malcolm moved around the room. “So this is your house?”
“Yes.” I gave him a quick tour of the upstairs, then grabbed the stack of clothes that were going in my go-bag and headed downstairs, Malcolm floating behind me. I showed him around the main floor—living room, kitchen, laundry room/downstairs bathroom, storage room—and then pointed at the basement door. “That’s my library and my spellwork area. We’ll be spending a lot of time down there.”
“Right on.” Malcolm stared at the door and whistled low. “Whoa.”
I realized he was seeing the wards. I’d poured a lot of time, energy, and blood into those wards. They were the strongest and most intricate I’d ever made. Even the best mages wouldn’t be able to get in. There were layers of deadly landmines strung throughout the spells. Trying to break the wards directly would mean death for the mage or mages who tried. Nuking the wards with focused energy would level the house and kill everyone in it. My basement was as secure as I could make it.
Malcolm looked at me with a combination of fear and respect. “Holy shit. I thought Betty’s wards were intense. How long did it take you to do this?”
“The foundation spells took three days and eight pints of blood. The rest of the basic spells took about a week. I’ve been adding on to it and pouring energy into it since I moved in almost five years ago.”
“It’s incredible,” Malcolm said reverently. “All that energy, and yet I couldn’t even sense it from upstairs.” He drifted forward, his fingers moving as if he was envisioning the process I’d used to layer the spells. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I see the energy, but I can’t feel it. I can’t even begin to understand the spells you’re using to mask the trace. Unbelievable.”
“Well, I couldn’t very well let anyone sense the energy. It would be a beacon so bright, they’d see it from space. You’re not even seeing the strongest and most deadly wards.”
“What?” Malcolm’s eyes widened.
“There are secondary spells hidden in landmines. Even if a team of mages came in here and tried to unweave the spells, they’d hit the landmines and release the cascades.” Cascades were spells that triggered a series of other, more powerful spells, like an avalanche. There were even more surprises hidden in the cascades: divine wind spells designed to travel back to the heart of whichever cabal attempted to break my wards and cause maximum destruction. If my library went—even if I went with it—I’d be going out with a very big bang.
Malcolm was silent for a long time. “With skills and power like this, you would be the most powerful mage in just about any cabal in the country,” he said finally. He drifted back toward me and stopped close enough that I felt his energy buzzing. “There is no way any cabal would let you go. I know you used to belong to one; you knew what I was talking about when I was telling you about my past. At first I thought you’d completed your contract and negotiated a release, but there’s no way.” His eyes searched my face. “You feel like a mid-level mage, but you aren’t, are you?”
I said nothing.
Malcolm’s brows drew together and his anger prickled on my skin. “Alice—”
“No,” I said in a cold, flat tone.
He closed his mouth.
“I belonged to a cabal. Now I don’t. The rest of what happened isn’t a story I can share with you, not right now, maybe not ever. You know better than most people what the cabals are capable of. Now you know at least some of what I’m capable of.” I gestured at the wards protecting my basement. “Perhaps you can fill in some of the blanks for yourself, or at least hazard a guess.”
I took a step toward him, despite the sizzle of his energy on my skin. It hurt, but I was no stranger to pain. I’d felt little else since I was four years old. “You’re one of the best mages I’ve ever met. I think we can have a good long-term partnership. I want to know what’s in Betty’s library and what books were stolen from her. I want to know how strong Natalie’s magic is and find her a mentor if she wants one. Big picture, I want to know what Darius Bell is up to and how you ended up bound to me. But from here on, you have to understand that my past is off-limits. No questions, no poking around. It’s not personal, but I will protect myself. If those wards tell you anything, it’s that I am not someone you’d want to cross.”
Malcolm’s mouth opened and closed several times. I stepped back.
Finally, he regained his power of speech. “Well, at least we cleared that up.” He sighed—purely an affectation, as ghosts didn’t breathe. “I get it. No questions.”
“Good. We need to head over to Natalie’s house.” I put on my leather jacket and turned to gather my things.
“Wait, I do have one question.”
I
paused, my arms full. “Yes?”
“The blood in the foundation spells—all eight pints of it—it isn’t yours.”
I turned and gave him the kind of smile that made people twitch. “I never said it was.”
Malcolm flitted back so fast, he passed through the couch and the coffee table and ended up over near the fireplace. “Okay then.” He sounded strangled. “I’m glad we could have this talk.”
“Come on, Malcolm.” I opened the front door. “Let’s go see a woman about some missing books.”
*
The drive over to Natalie’s house was more or less silent. When I parked in her driveway, I could feel the wards. They felt as strong as they had when I’d left. At some point, Natalie would be able to maintain them, but that would be a while yet, and that was assuming I could find someone to teach her.
I had to find Natalie a mentor, but I also had to be very careful. If she had strong magic like her grandmother, she’d be worth good money to a cabal. A mage without scruples would sell her out in a heartbeat. At the same time, I was hiding from the cabals. I couldn’t very well go around making inquiries, but Charles could. As a broker and a member of the Vampire Court, he was powerful and connected. I was betting he would know someone who could train Natalie and wouldn’t sell her out.
Was there any reason to doubt Charles? I thought back over all my dealings with him. He was ruthless, certainly; all vampires were. The older they were, the less human they became. Charles wasn’t all that old by vamp standards; he’d fought in the Revolutionary War as an adolescent, which meant he’d been turned sometime around 1800. As a member of the Vampire Court and a successful businessman, he excelled in reading people, making alliances, and staying ahead of the competition. Could I trust him with Natalie’s life? I’d been so certain last night, but now, in the cold light of day and looking at the home Betty had shared with her granddaughter, I started to wonder.
The X factor was how much power Natalie had. If she had a lot, it would make her a powerful bargaining chip, and for a vamp, that might be too irresistible of a prize if he needed something to establish an alliance with a cabal. Of course, if her power was mid-level or lower, she wouldn’t be worth selling out.
