He winced internally at the reminder that she had been the one to leave him. It wasn’t one that he needed. Life had been hell without her.
“Do they know about this?” Taig stroked his fingers over her chest. The ascension mark sparked into existence, shimmering bright red beneath his fingertips and casting an eerie light over his hand.
A nod was her reply. She didn’t look happy about the fact that others knew of her impending ascension. His list of suspects was growing though. If she had told the coven that she didn’t think he would kill Charlie and that she was approaching the ascension, then there was a chance that this was an inside job. It would explain the message but not the demons that had been at the bar tonight. If it was a witch after Lealandra, why go to the length of working with demons?
Unless the witch wasn’t strong enough to face him themselves or they didn’t want to get their hands dirty.
Taig rubbed his head. It hurt to think this much when all he wanted to do was find the son of a bitch responsible and teach them a lesson. He was sorely used to someone giving him a mark and then him taking care of them. No need to think. Contract. Kill. Paid. That was the sort of life that he preferred. Investigation wasn’t in his repertoire.
Maybe he could start with the demons. They wouldn’t be too difficult to track and he could kill them and quench his thirst for vengeance.
“Taig,” Lealandra said, pulling him out of his pleasant thoughts. The wary look in her eyes spoke volumes. He reined in his anger so his demonic side receded and the red faded from his irises. She never had been comfortable with his true nature. He couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t comfortable with it himself. “We should go.”
She went to pick up her bag but he beat her to it. She raised a fine black eyebrow.
He smiled at her and shrugged. “Consider chivalry part of the deal.”
Her other eyebrow rose. “Chivalry? I didn’t think you even knew the word existed, let alone what it meant.”
He deserved that one. He never had done the gentleman thing with her—no opening doors or protecting her from cars by walking on the road side of the pavement. Unless you counted smashing doors in to get to their mark or shielding her body with his as a car crashed into them. He had done that before. He grinned and followed Lealandra to her door. It had been nice to have someone hunting with him.
And victory sex was fantastic.
His attention switched to their surroundings when Lealandra stepped out into the hall and his mind cleared. Reaching out with his senses, he did a sweep of the entire floor. The presence of several witches nearby sent him into high alert and his focus sharpened. He swapped the bag over to his left hand, leaving his right free for fighting if they ran into trouble.
Lealandra led the way down the pale neat corridor to the elevator, an invisible trail of nerves and fear in her wake. He moved closer to her, knowing that she would be able to feel his power and his intention to protect her, and that it would calm her.
They reached the elevator and she started her constant drumming of the call button. It wouldn’t come any quicker just because she was doing that. He was tempted to catch her wrist again to stop the irritating fast clicking of the button but gritted his teeth instead. Tapping it seemed to alleviate her nerves a little. Anything that did that was fine with him, even when it was the most annoying sound on the planet.
The elevators doors opened and he almost thanked God when her finger left the button and she stepped inside. He pressed the button on the panel to take them down to the foyer and stood in front of it, blocking Lealandra so she couldn’t start up her button pressing compulsion again.
The silence in the elevator was oppressive, making the space seem far smaller and more cramped than it was. Taig looked at the grid of lights above them for a short while and then at Lealandra. She was watching him, grey eyes narrowed slightly. Expectant. Was she waiting for him to say something?
“We never did it in an elevator.” He flashed a sly grin. “I could stop it and we could give it a go.”
She didn’t frown or hit him this time. She merely rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest in a way that said it wasn’t going to happen and she was going to pretend she hadn’t heard him.
“You sure?” He tapped the metal door and then the wall. She finally frowned when he ran a hand along the brass rail that edged three sides of the elevator at hip height to him. “It would probably hold your weight.”
“Not going to happen.” She glared at him, eyes cold and empty.
“The price of this contract—”
“Doesn’t get paid until it is fulfilled.”
He smirked and leaned back against the door. His elbow knocked against the stop button and the lift juddered to a halt. “And then we get fulfilled.”
She huffed and tried to reach around him. He moved to block her path to the buttons.
“You’re incorrigible,” she said on a sigh.
“You always said that was a good thing.” He countered her when she made another reach for the button.
“Will you just get out of the way?” Lealandra shoved him in the ribs, sending him off balance and crashing into the side.
The steel box of the elevator wobbled and the metallic skittering twang of the cables above warned that the impact hadn’t been welcome. Lealandra grabbed his arm, holding on for dear life until the elevator settled again.
“Christ, I thought you were suppose to stop me from being killed, not the reverse. That’s twice now.” She hit his arm and stepped away.
Taig righted himself. “I’m here aren’t I? You think I enjoy being surrounded by witches liable to kill me on the spot for just being in their territory? I have plenty better things I could be doing. And that time wasn’t my fault. You pushed me.”
She tilted her nose up and pressed the button. “Just get me the hell out of here and we’ll call it quits.”
Tension didn’t suit her. Taig decided it as he stood beside her waiting to reach the ground floor. Some people could handle it, like himself, and others went crazy. She was definitely one of the crazy ones.
The elevator doors opened.
In the lobby stood a reminder of what had Lealandra so worked up.
Gregori.
CHAPTER 6
Half of the coven filled the vast bright lobby in front of Lealandra, a mixture of faces she was glad to see and ones that she knew were only there to either fight or see her fall. A thirty-foot strip of open grey marble floor separated her from them, forming a no man’s land on which three others stood. Two supreme mages, neat elderly greying men who wore the traditional ankle-length silver-buttoned navy coats of their office, and a younger man.
Gregori.
Taig thankfully remained quiet and still. She never knew what to expect from him and had never brought him into a situation like this. He was right. She had no reason to doubt his desire to protect her when he had walked right into her world, into the coven’s territory, placing himself in great danger.
Lealandra slowly stepped out of the elevator, her attention locked on Gregori.
He stood a few feet in front of the two supreme mages, closer to her. Rather than the normal garb of his rank, he wore black slacks and a dark blue shirt with a faint silver pinstripe that made him look more like a businessman than a powerful witch. His hazel eyes fixed on her, unwavering even though rogue strands of his jaw-length brown hair had fallen out of his ponytail and were in front of his eyes. His stern expression suited the harsh angled contours of his face, matching the pulses of disgust and anger emanating from him.
“Lealandra,” he said in a mild voice, one so smooth that it set her nerves alight. The calmness of it masked the emotions she could sense in him. He was annoyed with her for leaving and furious with her for bringing Taig into the building.
Taig stepped out of the elevator and stopped a few feet behind her. It was unlike him to be this quiet and this sensible. His power spoke to hers and she understood it for once. He wanted to ge
t out of the coven. Her stomach felt heavy, fear sitting in it and weighing her down. If Taig wanted to leave without a fight, they were in more danger than she had thought. Not wanting to fight definitely wasn’t like him. He wasn’t the type of man who did things the easy way or backed down.
“Gregori.” Lealandra glanced at the double glass doors to her right and the darkness beyond. It was only a few metres. Could they make it there before someone tried to stop them? There was nothing in the barrier spells that would prevent her from walking out. She forced a casual smile. “I just came to get some things.”
Gregori’s hazel eyes slid to Taig and narrowed. “So I see.”
Damn. She had forgotten who was holding the bag. The last thing she had wanted to do was draw more attention to Taig.
“I do wish you would reconsider,” Gregori said and there was a murmur from the gathered crowd. It was hard to tell whether they were agreeing with Gregori or whether they wanted to see the back of her. “We are doing our best to find the person responsible for Charlie’s death, although you seem to have brought one of the suspects with you.”
Lealandra focused her power back on Taig, needing the reassurance that sensing him so nearby would give her. He was there if she needed him. A flicker of irritation crossed Gregori’s face.
“I don’t believe Taig is responsible for Charlie’s death. I told you that at the time.” Her heart trembled feebly her throat, threatening to die at any moment. She tilted her chin up, desperately holding herself together so Gregori would see that she wasn’t about to be intimidated by him or the supreme mages. “I also told you that I had considered leaving.”
“And then you disappeared in the dead of night without even a goodbye. We had thought you were kidnapped or worse. It is good to see that you are well and have returned.” The emptiness of his tone frightened Lealandra. She had seen Gregori holding council and had witnessed him take out his anger on a lesser witch. That same anger was bubbling away within him right this minute, hidden by calm words and a clever façade.
“I haven’t returned.” She held her hand out when she sensed Taig’s intent to move forwards to stand beside her. It was better that the gathered witches thought that Taig was acting as her servant, as an inferior. It was the way witches saw demons. If he stepped up beside her, he would be declaring himself an equal. Doing that openly in front of witches that were already on edge would only trigger a response from them. She didn’t want a fight. She just wanted to leave, the same as he did. “I only came for some things. Now I’ll be on my way.”
“Can he help you when the ascension comes, Lealandra?”
She stopped mid-step and looked at Gregori. She honestly didn’t have the answer to that question. Her gaze shifted to Taig. He was still standing by the elevators, staring at Gregori. The barest flicker of red rimmed his black irises.
“You would align yourself with a demon, one which cannot guide you through this most dangerous and important time, rather than remain here with your friends, with we who can see you through the ascension? You are vulnerable, Lealandra. You are leaving yourself open to attack by whatever dark force is after you.”
She swallowed. Her stomach turned, churning away, increasing the unsettled feeling growing within her. Gregori was right. It was insane to leave with Taig when she needed the assistance of powerful witches to help her survive the ascension, but it was also insane to stay where she felt vulnerable and with people whom she could no longer bring herself to trust.
“Taig will protect me.” She believed that. Taig would see her safe. He hadn’t told her it, but actions spoke louder than words. Everything he had done tonight, when she filtered out the flirting and the things he did to cover his true feelings, told her that he would do all in his power to protect her, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He would ensure she survived this.
She believed in him.
She had to.
He was her only hope.
“It is your decision to make,” Gregori said in that same calm tone that unnerved her. She swore she could detect a hint of malice in it, anger at her for daring to leave with a demon, “but I wish that you would reconsider. We are all so worried about you and the council believes that it is best for you to remain here. We will protect you, Lealandra. You are one of us.”
He didn’t mean that she was a part of the coven. He was making a distinction between her and Taig, between witch and demon. The crowd murmured in agreement this time, but she still wasn’t sure what they were agreeing to—the fact she was a member of the coven or didn’t belong with a demon.
Gregori stepped towards her. Taig walked behind her, keeping his distance, but she felt his power as he passed and it strengthened her own. She sensed him stop near the doors and look back at her.
A silent message that he was leaving with or without her.
“You need your Counter-Balance, Lealandra, something a demon cannot give you.” Gregori’s light eyes penetrated hers, holding her fast as though she were under a spell, only no magic passed between them. He knew better than to threaten her power right now. It was bordering on impossible to control. Back in the car when Taig had frightened her, she’d had no command over it. It had come out of its own free will in an attempt to protect her. She pressed a hand to her chest and felt the hum of magic in her veins increase as she touched the ascension mark. Gregori looked at her hand, as though he could still see what she had foolishly dared to show him. His hazel eyes narrowed and his lips compressed to form a thin menacing line. A flicker of magic, power stronger than hers, laced his aura. Her magic didn’t respond. Didn’t it believe that she was in danger? She felt as though she was.
“Taig will take care of me,” she whispered, barely able to find her voice to deny what Gregori had said. She wasn’t a fool. She needed a Counter-Balance more than ever and it was something that Taig couldn’t give her. Gregori’s power washed over her but quickly retreated, forced back by one it couldn’t defeat. Taig’s. His shielded her, caressed her skin and spoke to her own power, steadily bringing it under control and soothing her fears. Taig would take care of her.
“We are close to securing you another Counter-Balance, one from your old coven. I believe you know him… grew up with him. A man called Matthew.”
Lealandra tensed and stared wide-eyed at Gregori. Matthew? They were trying to bring Matthew to her? She had to warn him to stay away. Bringing him here would only drag him into danger and she didn’t want to see anything happen to him. He was the closest thing she had to a brother. She couldn’t lose him.
Gregori held a hand out to her, palm upwards.
She instinctively stepped back.
Suddenly, everyone’s focus shifted from her to Taig.
Bad move on her part. She should have been more aware of what she was doing. Moving towards Taig and away from Gregori was the worst thing she could have done.
The power of the gathered witches rippled through her, a warning that she was treading on thin ice now. She had openly chosen a demon over her coven.
Magic bled from her fingertips in thin red ribbons of smoke. They curled around her hands and she looked down at them, surprised by the sight of them when she hadn’t called her power. It was taking control again. Her eyelids dropped when it rose in her blood, surging through her and leaving her dizzy from the rush. It whispered in her mind.
Protect Taig.
Her eyes snapped open and she frowned at Gregori.
It wasn’t there for her sake. It didn’t perceive the witches as a threat to her but rather a threat to Taig. Her magic had never chosen to protect another before. Taig’s power rose and hazy bliss ran through her, melting her just enough that the tension drained from her body. Her power rushed to meet his and drew strength from him. It wanted blood and knew that Taig would give it to her. It hungered for him the same as she did. Only she felt there was something more to its desire to protect him than sustenance.
She took another step backwards and her magic began to abate, s
atiated by the feel of Taig’s power.
Her grip on it slipped and before she could grasp its true intention it had faded from her mind.
She stared into Gregori’s eyes a moment longer, wary of the darkness in them, and then stepped back so she was in line with Taig.
His fingers closed around her arm, his grip so tight that she felt his strength, and her knees trembled at the feel of his hand on her and the memories it stirred. Things between them had never been slow and gentle, and his rough hold on her arm brought everything flooding back.
“If you leave with him, you can never return.”
Lealandra didn’t hesitate.
She turned and walked out of the door.
It was difficult to cross the threshold and feel the tug of power as the protective charms allowed them through. She couldn’t stay. The tiny part of her that said the coven was the safest place to be was wrong. That was just fear talking. Everything bad that had happened to her had happened there. She was safest away from it. She would find a way to deal with her ascension without them and her Counter-Balance.
Matthew.
Had Gregori really been in contact with her old coven? He must have. She had never told anyone at this coven about the people she had grown up with back at her old one. The thought of Matthew coming to New York City and finding himself pulled into the mess she had found herself in turned her stomach.
Taig looked at her.
“I have a phone at my place,” he said, as though he had read her mind.
Lealandra nodded her thanks, too deep in thought to say the words. She needed to warn Matthew to stay away. Whoever was after her would kill him if he came to her. He was strong, powerful, and had always been able to handle himself, but she didn’t think he could handle this and she didn’t want to see him dead.
She had already lost one person, and that was one too many. She couldn’t lose another.
Lealandra pulled the car keys from her coat pocket. Taig held his hand out and she didn’t put up a fight. She dropped the keys into his palm and rounded the black sedan to the passenger side. She didn’t know the way to his place from the coven and she wasn’t in the mood for driving, not when she had a crowded mind and her feelings were weighing her down.
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