“Finally, asshole,” Kandy hissed, suddenly standing beside me.
Warner smothered his smile, taking a step back so as to offer me a slight bow. Then he lifted a dark-gold velvet box before him.
“Jade,” he murmured. “Crafted for you.”
I lifted the lid from the box, exposing yards of dark green silk embroidered with strands of pure gold. Wordless, I caressed the impossibly light rectangular stole, feeling the magic woven within it dance underneath my fingers. Witch magic by its grassy undertones. The embroidery depicted two serpentine dragons facing one another.
“Warner,” I whispered, awed.
My fiance passed the box to Kandy, then took the stole from me, draping it over my shoulders. “It contains a very practical warming spell, along with some protective spells, of course.”
“Of course,” I echoed. Despite the extra three inches my heels added to my height, the stole’s twelve-inch fringe practically brushed the ground. “It’s absolutely gorgeous. But … I didn’t get anything for you.”
He laughed huskily, running his fingers along the edges of the stole — and surreptitiously copping a rather deliberate feel at the same time. “You are my gift, Jade. Every day that I’m privileged to walk by your side. I need nothing else.”
Warmth flushed my chest. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, brushing my lips across his, heedless of my lipstick and the crowd that surrounded us. “Warner …” I practically moaned his name as the taste of his black-forest-cake magic flooded through my mouth, filling my senses.
“You can thank me properly later,” he said saucily. But then, disappointingly, he stepped back, shifting to my side and giving me a clear view of the length of the pool.
The fire breather and her ward were strolling regally along the wood deck toward us.
My heart rate ratcheted up even faster, but in a completely different — and completely uncomfortable — way.
Suanmi, the guardian of Western Europe, had her arm laced through Drake’s. And while the apprentice to the far seer was grinning madly, the fire breather’s disdain was evident in every four-inch-heeled step she took.
All at once, Warner’s tardiness and his deep glower upon finally arriving made absolute sense. He’d been waiting on the guardian.
The fire breather had crossed through my grandmother’s wards as if they didn’t exist. She was only a half-dozen feet away, but I couldn’t taste a drop of her magic, even as Drake’s honey-roasted almonds rolled around the both of them.
Warner cleared his throat, casting his voice low. No matter that if she’d wanted to, Suanmi could have heard us whisper from the street, even over the steady traffic that filled Point Grey Road deep into every evening. “Now you see why I was late.”
I tucked my hand into his elbow. Then we faced the new arrivals as if they were a firing squad. Because maybe they were. I was never certain whether the fire breather was friend or foe.
Suanmi wore a sleeveless chiffon dress that hugged every lithe curve, graduating from the deepest of blacks to the brightest of reds around her ankles. Her red-soled, four-inch, black patent-leather Louboutin heels brought her height almost up to the top of Drake’s ears — and he was over six feet. A ruby-and-diamond cornet, only a step away from being a tiara, was nestled in her silky dark hair.
Drake was decked out in a black suit with black-satin lapels and a black dress shirt. No tie. The fledgling guardian’s short, dark hair was smoothed back from his wide brow, and his dark eyes danced with mirth. But then, Drake was always delighted by dangerous situations. Being a practically immortal seventeen-year-old probably had a lot to do with his attitude.
My father, Yazi, dressed in a navy suit, was a dozen steps behind Suanmi. Hanging back. And I seriously hoped he was the final guardian planning to grace my engagement party with his or her presence. He grinned easily, ignoring the other Adepts as they turned to gawk at all the new arrivals. Then he sought out and found my mother beside the buffet tables.
“What the hell is going on?” I muttered.
Warner didn’t answer as Suanmi paused before us. The guardian’s gaze was on the long length of my necklace — but I was certain it was the instruments of assassination tangled and clipped to the chain that had her attention. I hadn’t been face-to-face with her since I’d inadvertently claimed the instruments for myself in the treasure keeper’s chamber.
The fire breather’s hazelnut-whiskey truffle magic momentarily shifted around me. And even with the tiniest of tastes, I knew that as heavily armed as I was, she could have burned me to a crisp before I could lay hand to any weapon.
“Suanmi,” I blurted, forcing myself to move beyond the moment. Beyond the uncertainty evoked by her appearance in my grandmother’s backyard. “Guardian. You bless us with your presence.”
“Oui, oui,” she replied in her native French. But then something very close to awe caused her to switch to English. “What is that?”
I followed her gold-flecked, hazel-eyed gaze to the three-tiered chocolate fountain. “Dark chocolate, guardian. With strawberries … pineapple, marshmallows … and cookies to dip in it.”
“Marshmallows,” the guardian of Western Europe murmured. “For … dipping.” She returned her gaze to my necklace, then addressed Kandy at my side without looking at her. “Your shoes are an interesting choice, wolf.”
“I like to run.”
“Which you would likely do better barefooted.”
“I do a lot of things better bare … footed.”
Suanmi tilted her head, finally turning her gaze toward Kandy. Then she laughed. The sound rang across the backyard like a series of husky wind chimes.
“Wolf. You shall present me to Jade’s grandmother. And then escort me to the fountain of chocolate.”
A fierce grin infused Kandy’s face. Completely fearless, the sequin-swathed werewolf stepped forward, elbowing Drake out of the way and offering her arm to the fire breather.
As far as I knew, the only other time that Kandy had been anywhere near the guardian of Western Europe had been the night she was almost mortally wounded in a parking garage in London. The fire breather had refused to help us then. Okay, she’d specifically refused to help me. Kandy apparently didn’t carry a grudge, though.
Or the werewolf was hatching an elaborate revenge plan and Gran’s patio was about to become a battlefield.
I ignored the tiny thrill of anticipation that came with that thought.
As they stepped away, Suanmi’s gaze dropped to the thick, rune-carved gold cuff Kandy wore. Then she lifted her chin offishly, lightly resting her hand on Kandy’s forearm.
Kandy glanced back at me over her shoulder, taking in my shocked expression with one of her patented predator nonsmiles. “The witch is all yours.”
Warner looked at me questioningly.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Just a contingency plan. You know, in case you didn’t show.”
Drake was absentmindedly rubbing his stomach where Kandy had elbowed him, and gazing after the fire breather. “I didn’t know they knew each other.”
“Well, there was London. But Kandy was probably unconscious at the time.”
“Ah, yes. London.” Smiling, Drake leaned in to kiss my cheek. “I wish you peace and prosperity, Jade Godfrey …” — he reached over to shake Warner’s hand — “… and Warner Jiaotuson.”
A white-clad server crossed out from the kitchen, carrying a tray of what appeared to be stuffed puffed pastry of some sort. Possibly dungeness crab, if I correctly recalled which of the five possible menus Gran had finally settled on. Drake abandoned us without another word, cutting off the server’s progress across the patio as though he were about to kneecap an enemy.
My father stepped forward, sweeping me into his arms before I could offer any commentary to Warner about the possibly volatile foreplay between Kandy and Suanmi. Or even to ask why the fire breather was in attendance at all. For a moment, my father’s intense magic thundered around me, and I had the inexplicabl
e urge to pull my knife and run into battle by his side. Then he was clapping Warner on the back, proudly but slightly too hard — based on the wince of pain my fiance attempted to conceal underneath a grin.
“As we discussed, sentinel,” he bellowed. Then he practically leaped across to the buffet tables, inserting himself between the fire breather and my mother.
I met Warner’s gaze, reaching out to lace my fingers through his. “Is it later now?” I whispered.
“Most definitely.”
And with that infinitesimal amount of encouragement, I tugged him up the steps and into the house, completely abandoning my obligations, along with all the extra introductions that would need to be made now that my fiance and my father had shown up.
Utilizing the stealthiest ninja moves in our collective arsenal, Warner and I snuck upstairs. Sadly, those moves were mostly wasted, because the house was empty other than the chef in the kitchen and the servers coming and going with appetizer trays. But we made it into the black-and-white hexagon-tiled and wallpapered powder room off the main staircase either way. And then we proceeded to tangle more than just fingertips, until my dress was up around my hips and my pretty lace panties were hanging from one ankle.
“One of the bedrooms would have been more comfortable,” Warner murmured, pressing kisses around the invisible sheath strapped to my right thigh.
I gasped as his kisses turned to nipping, then moved higher. “Gran’s got people staying in all the guest bedrooms,” I said, trying to not moan as his mouth found his target. “And that’s just rude, isn’t it? To use someone else’s bed?”
Warner chuckled huskily, sending waves of his black-forest-cake magic radiating up and through my belly. My nipples hardened eagerly. I curled my fingers in the thick hair at the back of his neck, tugging lightly, then more insistently when he ignored my prompting that I wanted to hurry along the sexual proceedings.
I might have been all about the icing when it came to cupcakes, but I was definitely a cake girl when it came to sex.
Warner lifted me without warning, attempting to settle me down on the edge of the delicate pedestal sink.
“It won’t hold my weight,” I cried. Explaining how we’d broken the sink to Gran was seriously on the bottom of my things-to-do-before-I-die list.
“I’m the one holding you now, Jade.”
A flush that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with being loved by this man, this dragon, warmed my chest. Capturing his mouth in mine, I wrapped my thighs around Warner, twining my ankles behind him — but leaving myself room to get his pants off.
He balanced me against the lip of the sink, cupping my ample ass and thighs in his hands effortlessly. Then he groaned as I freed him from the confines of his dress pants with a few swift strokes.
He slipped between my legs without further prompting, but then immediately tried to slow the pace. Pinned against the delicate sink, I didn’t have any leverage with which to urge him on.
I laughed into his mouth. And he grinned wolfishly.
“Captured me, have you?” I whispered provocatively. “Will you carry me off to your cave now? Chain me up alongside your treasure hoard?”
The gold of his dragon magic glinted across his blue-green eyes as he increased the pace of his thrusts, momentarily dizzying me with pleasure. “No,” he said, far too seriously. “I would never attempt to keep you without your leave, Jade. I pity anyone who would try to subjugate you.”
“Because you’d tear them apart?”
He laughed, sounding shaky though his feet were planted firmly on the floor. “I’d destroy them. Eviscerate them. Eradicate them.”
I arched into the knot of pleasure building between my legs. His teeth scored my neck as I angled my hips sharply forward, so that he was making contact with my very center with each thrust.
I shuddered, pleasure taking my voice and scrambling my thoughts.
Warner growled, practically bruising my lips with kisses between his words. “But you wouldn’t give me the chance, would you? I’d have to make do with the remains of your fury. I’d have to wait for your leave to exact my revenge. Wouldn’t I, dowser? Wielder of the instruments of assassination? Dragon slayer?”
I wrapped my hands around his face, gripping and twisting my fingers within his hair. “Warner,” I whispered, darting my tongue into his mouth. “Warner …”
“Yes?” he asked teasingly. “Is there something I can do for you, my Jade?”
I reached between us, timing the movement between his thrusts, and tightly wrapped my forefinger and thumb around the root of his girth.
He groaned, then shuddered, burying his face in my neck.
I laughed, pleased to have pushed him over the edge of his steady control. In reaction to his unfettered desire, the warmth simmering in my belly burst into flame, fanning up my torso and curling down my legs to pool in the bottoms of my feet. I relaxed into the feeling, allowing my orgasm to —
Someone rapped sharply on the bathroom door. “Jade? The guests are looking for you. And Warner.”
Gran.
Jesus.
I laughed breathlessly, pleasure tightening across my lower belly as Warner didn’t bother acknowledging the interruption. “I’ll be right there, Gran,” I said, panting. “I’m just coming.”
Warner chuckled, completely chuffed with himself.
On the other side of the door, Gran huffed in a most disgruntled way, grumbling as she retreated down the hall. “You two are impossible. You know you have responsibilities.”
I grinned at Warner, who winked. Holding his gaze, I climaxed, throwing my head back as shudder after shudder racked my body. Through it all, Warner held me steadily aloft.
Then, with a self-satisfied sigh, he followed me over the edge, milking almost painful bits of lingering pleasure from me with his final strokes.
“Why does it feel as if I’m standing inside a birthday gift?” he muttered into my neck, still holding me tightly against him.
I laughed, opening my eyes to gaze up at the ceiling. It was wallpapered in black-and-white diamonds, matching the walls. “I think that was the idea.”
After Warner helped me tidy my hair and I straightened his tie — along with various buttons and zippers — we stepped out of the house, hoping to slip into the crowd unnoticed. Unfortunately, Gran was waiting. Well, unfortunately for Warner, since she simply gave me a quelling look, then took my fiance’s arm and began introducing him around the party.
The sentinel, who wasn’t particularly jovial unless he was running his knife through someone or watching an ’80s comedy with Kandy, smiled affably, allowing Gran to show him off.
Something about the sight of him bending to listen carefully to introductions as my Gran made them pinched my heart, triggering another heady flush. I had never known that loving someone so much could be painful. That the tiniest of gestures would turn my knees to mush or cause my heart to swell with joy.
Warner glanced back over his shoulder, winking when he caught me watching him. A wide, wholly genuine grin spread across my face. Then, allowing my smile to turn wicked, I recalled his grip on my hips and his mouth on my neck.
Warner’s look turned smoldering. Gran touched his arm, calling him back to the present. He actually had to shake his head to clear it.
I laughed, making a beeline for the chocolate fountain even though it appeared to have been commandeered by the fire breather. Suanmi was imperiously gesturing toward pieces of fruit, then waiting rather impatiently as Kandy covered her selection in melted chocolate and placed it on the guardian’s plate.
I stifled another laugh. Given how long Warner and I had been upstairs, I would have expected Kandy’s attention span to have been seriously tested by now. Apparently, I had underestimated her ability to relish stalking large predators. The green-haired werewolf was a fan of games, and if the fire breather wanted to play, Kandy would eagerly pretend to be servile for just long enough to lull her prey.
The faint
taste of peppermint tickled my senses. I paused, scanning the immediate area with more than just my eyes — and noting as I did that every other predator on the patio did the same, including my father, Warner, Drake, and Kandy. Though at a guess, they had probably picked up on the change in my demeanor, rather than catching the same scent of magic.
That magic wasn’t present within the warded backyard. Meaning its peppermint-tinted power was something I shouldn’t have been able to taste on the other side of the magical barrier that warded the house and property. Except I didn’t have a lot of shouldn’t in my life anymore, and I was particularly attuned to this magic, which I was fairly certain was coming from the direction of the beach.
I smiled, letting the others who were primed to draw weapons and grow claws know that everything was okay. Crossing to the gate at the far corner of the patio, I slipped away from the party, practically dashing down the wooden stairs beyond.
Pausing to tug off my shoes, I skipped across the boulders and the sun-bleached logs that edged the beachfront. The taste of peppermint intensified as I crossed through Gran’s wards, my toes sinking into the wet sand.
A vampire wearing a pale-gray, slim-fitting suit stood at the edge of the surf, the lowering sun setting his pale skin and white-blond hair aglow. He was alone. I couldn’t taste Jasmine’s sweeter magic anywhere nearby.
I closed the space between us. “Kett.”
“Jade.” His cool tone didn’t betray a hint of joy. But then a quick quirk of his lips let me know he was pleased to have been invited to the engagement party. Still, I was pretty sure loitering just outside on the beach probably wasn’t what my mother had had in mind when she’d insisted on the executioner of the vampire Conclave being included on the guest list.
I brushed my hand across his cheek questioningly, and his icy blue eyes warmed.
“All is well,” he murmured, answering my unvoiced concern.
“Jasmine?”
“I thought …” He glanced up at the patio jutting out over the beach behind me. A patio filled with Adepts. “The magic gathered might be too much for her. For the present.”
Champagne, Misfits, and Other Shady Magic Page 19
