Tres: Ancient Warriors. Modern Women. Waking Desires.

by Jules River

  Mira went over Ivanoff’s routine as they knew it, she looked at the photographs of him at his son’s gravesite, and that’s when she saw something in his hand. She zoomed in on what certainly appeared to be a carved marble talisman. That’s when she realized that he took the talisman with him to his son’s grave. If they could get it from him when he walked the two blocks from his mansion to the cemetery, that would be so much easier than breaking into his home or a locked safe. Of course he had security with him, but maybe with a distraction or a pickpocket or something.

  Excitedly Mira blurted out, “I have to find a professional pickpocket! Look at this, he takes the talisman with him when he walks to the gravesite once a week!” She showed Warin the photo on her phone of Ivanoff at the gravesite with an object in his hand that very much resembled a talisman. “Now, how would I go about finding a pickpocket?” Mira murmured to herself. “We will need a distraction as well. I know, I can go to the bad part of town and start asking around to hire someone with pickpocketing skills!” Jake and Dale looked at Mira as if she had gone nuts, then at each other. Jake inclined his head to Dale, and finally Dale drawled, “Ma’am, I’m pretty good at picking a pocket when the need arises.” He looked away sheepishly. “Why, Dale, aren’t you a sly one. That’s wonderful! Now all we need is a distraction.”

  Warin has been quiet this whole time as he looked over all the photos the detective had given her. Warin took over and imparted his idea for a distraction, “I could accuse him of staring at Mira and start a fight with him. He does like young pretty brunettes. Or we could play out a fight with each other right in front of him. Would that give you the distraction you needed to get the talisman from him?” he asked Dale. “That would sure distract the majority of people, sir,” Dale responded with a grin.

  “Great, now we have a plan. He should be visiting his son’s grave day after tomorrow. I think I’ll go shopping and get something worth ogling.” Mira smiled mischievously.

  Warin just groaned and looked away. The two guards in the back seat stifled their own groans. She was hard enough not to look at dressed the way she always did, but it would truly be difficult to keep their eyes to themselves if she was trying to be provocative rather than sophisticated. The woman was just too damn good looking.

  Mira had fun shopping for her attention-seeking outfit. It was easier than she thought, as it turned out Russia has a dark side to its fashion. She settled on a pair of cream-colored, low-rise leather pants, extremely fitted and butter soft, with beautiful high-heeled ankle boots. She paired this with a cream silk corset that laced up the front, barely covering her breasts. She would drape a full-length leather coat with a fur collar over her shoulders, completing the outfit with matching gloves. The boots and gloves were the same darker cream as the coat, almost a cafe au lait color. It was a sexy, classy, expensive outfit that drew the eye.

  The men would all be in suits and long coats, except for Dale. He was going to come out of a shop when Ivanoff walked by, and that was where Warin and Mira hoped to distract him with a jealous fight directed at Ivanoff. Warin chose the spot to make the lift, making sure they had everything covered and timed just right for their confrontation with the Russian the next day.

  Mira, Warin, and the team were at their prearranged posts early. They all watched Ivanoff and his two guards walk by on his way to the cemetery. Warin and Mira sat in a small restaurant by the window three doors down from the target location. Two of the security team members were at the table next to them. Dale was in the jewelry shop he was supposed to come out of during the distraction, and Jake sat on a bench in front of a store one shop up from the jewelry store, reading a newspaper. After twenty minutes, Warin and Mira slowly emerged from the restaurant, walked arm-in-arm as they window-shopped. A few moments later, two guards followed behind. Jake was to give the signal when he saw Ivanoff coming near, then he was to get in the vehicle that was parked near the bench; it was possible they would need to make a quick getaway. The detective would watch from the cemetery to see where Mr. Ivanoff put the talisman after he left his son’s grave. Just before Jake saw Ivanoff, the detective texted Warin and Dale that Ivanoff had placed the talisman in his left side pocket.

  Right on time, Jake gave the signal and headed for the SUV. Dale was at the door of the jewelry store, ready to walk out as soon as Warin and Mira distracted Ivanoff. The other two security members planned to draw the attention of Ivanoff’s guards so they did not notice what was really going on. They were ready for action.

  Mira was facing the direction Ivanoff was coming from, giving him a full-frontal view of her seductive leather and silk ensemble. The stunning outfit, along with Mira’s beauty, paid off. Ivanoff stared and began smiling broadly; Mira looked up and gave him a lingering, flirty smile in return, as they neared the jewelry store door. Warin said loudly and angrily, “You want to flirt right in front of me?! Here, you can have her!” He shoved Mira into Ivanoff, who instinctively caught Mira around the waist with his right arm as her coat slipped off her shoulders, revealing her oh-so-abundant charms. Mira made an exaggerated stumble and fell into him, her breasts smashed up against his chest as she looked into his face. The jewelry store door opened at the same instant he caught her, and Dale exited, bumping into the two of them. Ivanoff’s guard was distracted for only a moment before he grabbed Dale’s arm and shoved him on his way, but the deed was done. Dale moved on with the talisman safely hidden up his sleeve.

  In the few seconds in which Mira fumbled and tried to regain her balance, she gave Ivanoff a seductive, embarrassed look up from beneath her lashes, then in Russian she said, “Pardon me, excuse me.” She pulled away and ran to Warin, pleading, “Please don’t leave me! I was not flirting! I would never do that to you.” She looked up at him with a sexy, pouty look, and Warin hauled her to the SUV, allowing her to get in before following with the two security guards. Jake pulled away from the curb, rounded the corner out of Mr. Ivanoff’s sight, and stopped half a block down, picking up Dale before they sped off toward the small private airport where their pilots and jet awaited, fueled and ready to go.

  “Did you get it?” Mira could not wait to ask. Dale turned toward the back seat with a cocky grin on his face, “Here you go, ma’am,” and he handed her the talisman. Mira could not help but give an excited squeal as she held the talisman. After she looked it over, she handed it to Warin and said, “That went really well. Much easier than having to break into houses and safes.” Everyone agreed.

  After letting the pilot know they were on the way, Mira texted Faye and Lyra, “We’re all good, see ya soon.”

  Chapter 18

  Working together, the sisters, warriors, and assistants wasted no time when Warin and Mira made the long flight home from Moscow. Faye and Cenric worked on tracking down a bit of information that led to Mexico. They were verifying whether the book of spells they sought had last been purchased by Armando Guadalupe Cortez, aka Mando Cortez, aka the head of the Cortez Drug Cartel in Mexico City. It looked like Mando Cortez had purchased the book within the last ten months. Rumor was, Cortez’s younger brother had been killed almost a year ago by a rival drug cartel. Cortez had been very close to his baby brother and apparently his mother was holding him personally responsible for his death; it would seem even dangerous drug dealers had family pressures to contend with. Cortez was also said to be highly superstitious, and thought by using the book of spells he could bring his brother back to life and return peace to his family, if not to society. Baby brother had been every bit as violent as his big brother.

  The sisters had a network of informants all over the world who kept them up on anything having to do with certain antiquities, but the process was sometimes slow, and often led nowhere. Finally, their informants had viable information for them. Faye’s source had heard some chatter about Cortez and Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead celebrations widely held in Mexico and Latin America and also in many Spanish-speaking areas around the world. Things were looking up, but t
hey still had work to do.

  Lyra and Dunstin had been busy going over the data they found on the sorcerer, and were pleased there was more to the information than they could have hoped for in the research they had copied at the museum in Rome. Todd had returned to work and was very interested in the copies Lyra and Dunstin had brought back. He spent several days poring over the copies.

  Todd was an innocuous guy who kept to himself. He had started working for their father when he was twenty, assisting in all aspects of Dr. Banks’ work for two years before their father died following a massive heart attack. In the three years since their father’s death, he had helped the sisters in the same way. The sisters kept Todd on not only because their father had liked him, but because Todd had a way of coming up with information when no one else could. Lyra affectionately called him Super Geek. He had always been extremely encouraging about completing their father’s work.

  Todd was quiet, wore glasses, and was cute in a college-nerd kind of way. He was tall and slim, always dressed very smartly, and never had a hair out of place. He did not hit on them at all or show interest in any woman or man, as far as they had seen. The sisters sometimes wondered about his love life, whether he’d ever had one at all. He was very private; they knew very little about him, other than how well he did his job. Their father trusted him, so they did, too.

  Later that evening, Cenric was very restless; they had been working on their task for hours with nothing new to show for all their effort. Faye said, “Cenric, you’re about to jump out of your skin, why don’t you change clothes and then go and work out? You have not exerted any of that pent-up energy lately.”

  “Yes, perhaps you are right. Dunstin, would you care to join me in the gym?” Dunstin got up and stretched, “Sure that might help me as well.” Lyra and Todd left the room separately, leaving Faye alone with Steven.

  This was just the opportunity Steven had waited for; that possessive throwback Cenric never seemed to leave Faye’s side. After a short while, Steven worked up the courage to tell Faye how he felt. He walked over to Faye and sat down on the couch right next to her. Faye looked up, gave him a strange look at the invasion of her space, but kept working on her laptop.

  Steven reached for the laptop, set it aside, and took hold of her hands. Looking at her soulfully, he started talking. “Faye, my darling….”

  “Steven, what are you doing?” Faye was startled by his actions and the endearment, and attempted to pull her hands free. He had never been so bold before.

  Slightly aggravated, Steven resumed his spiel, keeping her hands clasped tightly in his. “Faye, my darling, I know now I have not given you the attention you need, but I will. You just need to tell Cenric you belong with me. I won’t let him ruin what we have been working toward.”

  Shocked by his words, Faye didn’t quite know what to say, but she tried. “Steven…we have not been working toward anything together on a personal level. We have never been an item. I mean, I respect you as a colleague and friend, but we don’t -- I’m sorry, Steven, I don’t know where this is coming from. We do not have a relationship.” She again tried to take her hands out of his grasp.

  Steven protested, “Yes, we do. Faye, you have not been thinking clearly since that barbarian has been here. I know we would be perfect together; I have waited for you for years. You have to give us a chance. You know we have feelings for each other.” He grabbed her face in both hands, leaned into her on the couch, swooped in and planted his lips on hers.

  Faye was shocked into stillness by his actions; this was so completely out of character for Steven. Eyes wide open, Faye put her hands on his chest to push him away, but before she could do so, he was no longer touching her. Cenric, coming out of nowhere, had jerked him off of Faye and had his hand around Steven’s throat as he squeezed. With his free hand he cupped Faye’s jaw, moving his thumb across her lips as if to wipe away Steven’s kiss.

  The expression on Cenric’s face was so thunderous, it had Faye worried; he was beyond furious. Faye realized he was choking Steven to death. She shoved his hand away from her face, jumped up and screamed, “Stop, Cenric, you’re going to kill him!” as she tried to get his hand from around Steven’s throat. Cenric did not release him.

  “He has been warned not to touch what is mine!” Cenric roared, and squeezed tighter, causing Steven to thrash about harder as he struggled to get free. Cenric moved Faye to the side, then punched Steven in the face, causing his nose to bleed profusely. Faye immediately put herself between them, grabbed Cenric by his shirtfront, and pleaded, “Cenric, stop it, this is ridiculous, it’s unforgivable!” That got him to look at her with narrowed eyes, but still he did not release Steven. So she leaned into him, grabbed his head, and began kissing him frantically. When he started to respond, she said between kisses, “Let him go.” “Come upstairs with me.” “We’ll talk about this.”

  Cenric loosened his hold on Steven, allowing him some air. Steven started choking out, “Stay away from her!” Faye looked back at Steven as Cenric once again tightened his grip on Steven’s throat. “Shut up! You’re making it worse!” She was angry at both of them. Cenric kissed Faye, and finally let go of Steven and shoved him away. Without a word, Cenric picked Faye up and started toward their room. Faye looked over his shoulder at Steven, who was on the floor, holding his throat and nose with his hands, his eyes burning with anger. Faye gave him a pitying look and mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before she was carried out of sight.

  When they reach the bedroom, Cenric closed the door, took Faye to the bed, and worked on getting his hands under her top to remove it. Faye pushed him away as soon as he put her down and soundly slapped his face. Cenric was not even slightly fazed, and reached for her again. “You almost killed him!” Faye yelled at him as she evaded his grasp by sliding off the other side of the bed. He was getting that determined look on his face as he reached for her again. “He is lucky you stopped me. I had every intention of ending his miserable existence.” With his long reach, he tackled her on the bed, and immediately started to nuzzle her neck as he tried to remove her clothing. “Now behave, and give me what I need before I change my mind and go finish him off,” Cenric murmured into her neck.

  “You are not getting anything from me, after what you did. He did not deserve that, Cenric. Now stop and get off of me!” Faye exclaimed while she swatted his hands away from her. He took both her hands in one of his and held them above her head; while he used his other hand to raise her top over her breasts, he slid down her body until his mouth hovered over her lace-covered nipple. Faye had a hard time remembering why she wanted to fend him off.

  “Cenric, I’m warning you,” and she arched into him. He moaned at her action, reached between her full breasts, and unclasped her lacy bra, exposing her luscious breasts. Cenric slowly licked her other nipple while he slid his hand down to the zipper on the side of her skirt. He wanted her naked beneath him; he would not be appeased until he was deep inside her, until he claimed her as his own. Cenric was still deeply upset over having witnessed Steven and Faye kissing. “Did you lie to me, Faye, when you said there was nothing between you and that little prick? You were kissing him,” he accused angrily as he kissed his way up to her panting mouth. He was trying to control his jealous anger.

  “I was not kissing him! He caught me by surprise, that’s all,” Faye got out on a gasp. Cenric let go of her hands so he could use both of his to get her skirt off. He paused, “He attacked you?” Cenric slid his hand inside her skirt and squeezed her ass, pulling her tight against him as he awaited an answer.

  “No. You attack me… Mmmm… all the time,” she moaned. He was not satisfied with her answer, “Tell me what happened. Why did you let him kiss you?” She snapped out of it after his accusation. “You accuse me?! Now you ask! After you almost killed him! Get off of me!” She head-butted him, surprising him, and he rolled over so she was straddling him. Faye tried to get off of him, but he held her hips in place over his groin. “You’re not going anyw
here.” He raised up and caught a bare nipple in his mouth. She fisted her hands in his short hair, struggled with herself and him, and eventually got him to look directly at her. “Cenric, I mean it, if you force me now, I will hate you! And it will be the last time you ever have me.”

  Cenric stared at her for a moment, finally acknowledging how upset she was. He gave an unhappy growl, bared his clenched teeth, and fell back onto the bed as he loosened his grip on her hips. He closed his eyes tightly as he breathed heavily, trying to regain control.

  Faye did not waste any time scrambling off the bed, wanting to move before he realized how easily he could change her mind. She leaned against the door for support while she straightened her clothes. “You had better find somewhere else to sleep! I’m not going to let you push me around anymore! I will not have you hurting my friends, no matter how confused they may be.” Then she stepped out of the room, and closed the door forcefully behind her.

  “Like so much hell,” Cenric grated out after her. I will be sleeping with her in my arms.

  ***

  The next day Faye woke up with Cenric in her bed, his arms wrapped around her; she elbowed him in the stomach as hard as she could, effectively waking him up. She did not stop there, she straddled him and started trying to hit him anywhere she could, cussing him all the while. She was angry with him that he had snuck in and slept with her last night against her express wishes; and she was angry with herself for having been subconsciously happy about it when she had first woken. Cenric blocked her blows with ease, then captured her fists in his hands, and rolled her under him, chuckling all the while. “Calm down, love. Now, don’t be upset.”