Magic Flame (Enchanted Book 3)

by Sara Dobie Bauer

  He’d been a coward and it was time to rectify that. So the other guy was a multi-millionaire, so what? Garnett didn’t love Allie. He hadn’t known her long enough to love her.

  What Donovan needed now was a plan—a plan and maybe a romantic gesture.

  Someone tapped on his shoulder. Hell. Really? Couldn’t a guy just plan impossible campaigns in peace? Donovan spun on the stool and ducked the hook shot aimed at his jaw. “What the hell, man?” Getting to his feet, he pushed the guy away and got a good look at him. “Steven? Steven Garnett?”

  The other man had looked poised and sophisticated in all the interviews and publicity shots Donovan had ever seen. It was almost like this wasn’t the same person. Or he was running a major fever. “That’s right. And you are in my way.”

  Okay. Strange. Donovan stepped to this side. If the guy wanted his stool at the bar that badly… He gestured at the stool. “You can even have my drink. I never even touched it.”

  “Not that, you ass. Her! Valerie!”

  “Valerie?” Donovan asked. That didn’t clear it up at all. Who the hell was…? Oh. “You mean Allie?”

  All around them the bar had stilled as people watched the drama, but, now, the unrest in the man opposite them was stirring them up. War demigods could start a war too. Oh hell. Garnett’s energy was pulsing out from him.

  “Yes! Valerie! That bitch had the gall to turn me down.”

  “She did?” Why had she made it sound like everything was just fine with Garnett? The man in front of him was not fine. Her instincts before even meeting him seemed to be on the money.

  “Said she was going on a trip, and she’d let me know when she was back.”

  Donovan’s mouth went dry. Oh hell. No. No, he’d find her before she left. If he had to scale the side of her building to stop her, he’d do it. Allie wasn’t running off. No way, no how. She’d die without the physical presence of her match.

  “Do I look like I have time?” Garnett said, gesturing at his body. “I don’t have time.”

  “You’d have more time if you settled down.” The demigod was going to nova if he didn’t stop pulsing out his energy—or they would both be knifed in a bar fight. The bar patrons were starting to shove each other, without a reason. “You’re going to flare if you don’t calm down. Now, we can discuss this rationally and I can talk to Allie for you.” The guy was a jerk, but maybe they could find another love demigoddess who didn’t mind jerks. In the meantime, Garnett could visit Allie with Donovan’s very close supervision.

  The millionaire’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need to talk to her. I have some of my boys taking care of her. I just need you out of the way so she’s more tractable. Don’t think I don’t know why she turned me down. Though I can’t even imagine what she sees in you.”

  Honestly, he was having a hard time understanding it also. But— “What do you mean you have someone taking care of her?”

  He snorted. “I understand women like Valerie. Bored socialites are somewhat my stock in trade. I get them. They play hard to get but they like a forceful man to dominate them and show them their place.”

  If only Allie had gotten this guy in her sparring ring. He’d have been swallowing his teeth, and she’d have broken his nose twice. But there’d be no chance of that. Steven Garnett wasn’t going to see midnight. His skin was practically smoking. It was surprising a war demigod had lasted this long with such a trigger temper. Maybe Garnett had never been told no before. He certainly wasn’t handling it well.

  And then a chair flew by Donovan’s head and all hell broke loose in the bar.

  Garnett took a second to smile and gaze benignly around him at the chaos of an enflamed mob and then he dove at Donovan. The spar between him and Allie had been far closer than this one was shaping up to be. There were things to be said for training with weapons as opposed to just making them. But Donovan had to get the other demigod outside before he flamed up—it was downright dangerous in the bar. Jumping back, Donovan let two men pummel each other in the middle of him and Garnett. Finally, Donovan tripped one and sent them both sprawling to the floor. He had to get the other war demigod out of here before people died because of him. Directly or indirectly.

  When the other demigod shoved him, Donovan let the momentum carry him out the side door—out of the melee and into an alley. He could waste a bunch of punches on this guy or he could hurry him along so he could go make sure Allie was okay.

  “So, you think Allie is going to pick you over me—ever? Go for your weak ass when she could have me?” Donovan shouted, dodging another punch—this one more off kilter than the previous.

  “You won’t be around. And, by now, my men have secured her and they’re just waiting for,” he threw another wild punch, “me.” He put his hands on his knees and panted.

  Okay, this was pathetic. Donovan snorted. “You still think you can take me?”

  Garnett laughed and he shouldn’t have. Why was he laughing? He was losing. Donovan wasn’t even winded. “That’s right,” Garnett said, sticking his hand into his suit coat. He came out with a gun. “I have this.” He admired it. “Brand new. It’s a prototype. We normally do bigger ‘guns’ but I wanted something special to take out a demigod—seemed only right.”

  Okay. Donovan held up his hands. Time to speed up the flaming process. “So, that’s it then. You’re not man enough to take me on by yourself. The big Steven Garnett can’t even handle a one-eyed freak all on his own?”

  Garnett’s face twitched, but he pointed the gun at Donovan. “It’s not a fair fight.”

  “Because I’m so much better than you.”

  The other man waved the gun around. “No, because you’re not as close to zenith as I am.”

  “You were around Allie earlier.”

  Garnett laughed. “And her energy is so addictive. I could breathe again. I needed more, but she walked out on me. And then stirring up a whole bar, well, I need more of Valerie, whether she wants it or not.”

  “She won’t. She doesn’t want you. She left that restaurant to come home to me. She left you for me.” She probably had. And Donovan was an ass for not accepting her attention for the gift it was. How many men had a chance with an actual love demigoddess? And he’d thrown it away.

  Garnett shook his head and wagged a finger at Donovan. Sweat was pouring down his skin. “She went home. I followed her, and you came out and came here. She threw you out.”

  Donovan shook his head. “No. We’re going away together. That trip she talked about? We’re going together.” If only… “You were going to be left alone, dying, and we were going to be off on a beach somewhere.”

  “No!”

  “Yes. She can’t get enough of me. And she picked me over you. She picked a poor, worn-out, one-eyed soldier over your sad-assed, wealthy prima donna self.”

  “No!” The hand holding the gun was shaking. Garnett’s entire body was twitching and sweat had soaked his clothing.

  “She wants me! Do you hear me? She wants me! Not you! Not anyone else! Me!” As Donovan shouted the words—the truth settled in. Allie had wanted him. Maybe she still did. He’d do anything—anything to get her back.

  Steven Garnett screamed, wrapped both hands around the gun and burst into flames.

  Donovan ducked as the gun fired, the bullet slamming into the brick of the building behind him.

  He scanned the area quickly as the smoke from the flailing man in front of him filled the alley. Garnett might light some garbage on fire but everything else seemed okay. He’d been howling the first few seconds, but now the other demigod fell to his knees and then flat on his face as the flames consumed him.

  Donovan could wait around for authorities—he could already hear sirens in the distance—or he could go help the woman he loved. Not even a contest. Donovan took off running and let the other man turn to ash.

  Being woken up from a dead sleep by three guys who smelled like feet was lame. They had her tied up on the floor in her living room. Pathetic
. If there hadn’t been three of them and she hadn’t been so depleted, Allie might’ve stood a chance. As it was, she’d only managed to soprano one of them with a well-aimed knee and give another a bloody lip.

  “Is it still bleeding?” the one with the fat lip asked another.

  “No. Quit being a girl about this.”

  “Uh no,” Allie said. “If he was being a girl, he would have kicked you in the balls like I did.”

  That earned her duct tape across her mouth. Totally worth it.

  “He’s not answering his phone,” Soprano said again.

  “Maybe we should take her out of here. That security guard won’t stay down forever. You wouldn’t let me kill him,” Fat Lip said.

  “No killing anyone,” the spare guy who’d hung back said. “I didn’t sign up for killing anyone.”

  “Seems like you didn’t sign up for much,” Fat Lip told Spare. “You just sat there watching.” He had. Fat Lip wasn’t wrong—Spare was useless.

  “Well, excuse me for thinking you could handle one skinny little rich bitch in her pajamas.” Possibly a fair expectation. What Allie lacked in size, she made up for in speed, but she was frequently underestimated. Usually, it worked in her favor but she was also tired from dinner with the bastard who’d sent these guys.

  “Shut up, you two,” Soprano said. “I can’t hear myself think.” Or maybe there just wasn’t much to be heard. None of them seemed to have an abundance of brain cells. “He should be answering. He just had to take care of that guy he thought was in the way.”

  Allie perked up. Whoa. Wait. Who was in the way? Donovan?

  “If he kills him, I don’t want to take the rap for being involved in that,” Spare said.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you didn’t sign up for killing. He said the guy went to a bar. He was gonna start a bar fight and kill him while it was going on.”

  What? If they were talking about Donovan… She twisted her wrists, trying to pull them free from the cord around them. Idiots had tied them in front of her body and left her legs free. Always a mistake. She’d planned to wait for the right moment to capitalize on that, but if Garnett was going after Donovan, Allie would have to make that moment herself. No one was hurting Donovan. In fact, as she’d sat on the floor, the scent of his shirt giving her comfort, Allie acknowledged that she wasn’t letting him go. She was going to make him see they belonged together—they were good together. But she had to save him from Garnett first—the man she’d told Donovan he could trust because he was a good guy—the man she’d juiced up on her energy. Bastard.

  “Oh, look, that’s cute, she thinks she can get loose,” Soprano said, noticing Allie’s struggles.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t call the lady cute, she’s likely to hand you your ass for that,” Donovan said, entering the room from the hallway. “Also, your boss couldn’t make it. Things got a little hot in that bar fight.”

  The men all turned. Taking advantage of their distraction, she surged to her feet—they really shouldn’t have left her legs loose, and slammed her bound fists upward against Soprano’s chin, snapping his head back.

  Donovan was at her side a moment later, just as Spare pulled out a gun. Oh, he wasn’t down with killing people, but he brought a gun? Donovan knocked it from the man’s hand.

  Allie roundhouse-kicked Fat Lip—that lip was gonna be huge. And he was down for good. Glass jaw.

  Soprano was getting up, but an uppercut from Donovan had already taken down Spare, and Donovan just stepped on the man’s chest. She retrieved the gun with her bound hands.

  “They bound your hands in front of you and left your legs free?” Donovan asked in an incredulous voice. “Amateurs.” After knocking the guy beneath him unconscious, he reached for the duct tape at her mouth. “Sorry, this will sting.”

  It did. But it also freed up her mouth so she didn’t mind. “I was coming to rescue you.”

  Donovan grinned, stowing the gun in the back of his waistband. “You just had the little matter of rescuing yourself first, huh?”

  “I could have done it.”

  Nodding, he cupped her cheeks and looked down into Allie’s eyes. “I love you. I shouldn’t have given up without a fight. That was stupid.”

  “It was stupid. I was going to tell you that after I was done rescuing you.”

  “And you’re not going to run off and get yourself killed because I will follow you and find you. Believe that.”

  Clearing her throat, she nodded. “My hands are still tied.”

  His gaze dropped to her hands and he reached for them. Then, Donovan paused and his lips tilted in a half smile. “You’re wearing one of my shirts.”

  Her cheeks heated up. She really hadn’t expected him to discover that. “You left it. It was fair game.” Then, she took a deep breath. “Also, I sort of love you too.”

  Grabbing Allie’s wrists, Donovan pulled them over his head and around his neck and bent to kiss her. Not one to be meek, she stood on her toes and used her linked arms to drag him closer. She moaned as his tongue caressed hers. His hands slid down her back, coming to rest on her butt, and Donovan picked her up. Allie wrapped her legs around his waist as his mouth took her to heaven.

  Turning abruptly, he headed for the hallway.

  Allie kissed along Donovan’s jaw and whispered in his ear, just as he stepped over one of the dropped assailants, “Shouldn’t we take care of the unconscious creeps in our living room first?” she murmured before biting his earlobe.

  He groaned. “Do we have to?”

  She laughed and he tightened his arms around her. “Mmm.” His body felt so good pressed against hers. Even outside of battle, he still had a warrior’s body. And the energy pouring off of him and into her made caring about the thugs’ presence difficult. She wanted him. So much.

  “Okay. Fine,” Donovan said. “I should probably untie your hands too.”

  She shrugged. “Either way… They mentioned taking out the guard in the lobby so the police might already be coming. They’ll be able to tell which level they used the guard’s override key for. One perk of being the only one on this level.”

  Donovan snorted. “It’s a good thing you mentioned that because I was having a hard time finding the perks to living in a penthouse apartment the size of a house.”

  “You’ll just have to tough it out, soldier. We can’t always have what we want.”

  “Can’t we? It seems like I’ve gotten everything I’ve wanted… and she’s wealthy too—which means I won’t have to support her in the style she’s grown accustomed to on a private security salary.”

  Allie stilled. What?

  “I went job-hunting earlier when I left here.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I thought you’d bailed on me by then.”

  “No. I needed time to analyze everything. I didn’t want to go into battle without knowing my assets.”

  “Well, you still did. You put a lot of value on things I didn’t care about. All I wanted was you—from the first moment I saw you.”

  “I don’t know why, but I’m glad you did.”

  She knew why, and Allie wasn’t letting him get away ever. He was going to see how good they were for each other and how good he was for her. He should know he was worth loving, even if it took their immortal lifetimes to prove it to him. “Thank you for coming to rescue me.”

  Donovan shrugged. “Garnett mentioned he was… acquiring your cooperation.”

  “And he won’t be a problem?”

  “No, but somebody will need to clean up a millionaire-sized pile of ash outside the bar I was in down the street. He went nova, and I’ve decided I’d rather not experience that.”

  “Fair enough. You were just down the street?”

  “Planning my campaign to get you back.”

  Her pulse picked up. He’d already changed his mind. “How did you get in here?”

  “Took the elevator up to the eleventh floor, took the stairs to the roof, and rappelled down to your bedroom balcony.
You left the door unlocked to that, by the way, and the whole thing seems like a major security flaw; though, I did break the lock on the door to the roof.”

  “Huh. Clever.”

  “I try.” Donovan shook her lightly, his fingers gripping her ass a smidge more. Oh, she liked that. She liked that a lot. “We’re going to finish this as soon as we get rid of our guests in the other room.”

  She smiled, noting that he was referring to them as “our” guests. “We will. You used your last out when you walked away earlier.”

  “No more outs,” he agreed. “You’re keeping me. I’m your spoils of war.”

  “Or it’s the other way. You did get your hands on my booty.”

  Dropping his forehead to press onto hers, he laughed.

  So Allie kissed him again.

  And again.

  Until the police knocked on the front door.

  Epilogue

  “Don-don,” the little kid said, lifting up the dinosaur. Once Payson had found out his favorite pirate’s name was Donovan, it’d been a short jump to making the new dinosaur’s name more prehistoric-sounding.

  Donovan nodded. “It’s a good name. Did you get your homework done?”

  “Yeah. It was just coloring mostly,” Maylee’s son told him, making the dinosaur fly through the air. The brontosaurus or don-don wasn’t a flying type of creature, but Donovan didn’t mention it.

  “Art is important.”

  Payson tilted his head. “Did you really put my pirate dinosaur picture on the fridge, Mr. Donovan?”

  “He totally did,” Allie said behind him.

  Donovan had been crouching beside the kid, but he got to his feet.

  She grinned. “I thought you might like a ride home.”

  “Maybe if I’m up to cheating death…” He shot the kid a look. “She drives crazy.”

  Payson grinned and waved at Allie.

  She winked. “He’s a big baby. Do you guys really want a security guard who’s afraid of my driving?”