by Jasmine Walt
Maybe it was her witch blood, or maybe it was just the fact we’d grown up together and she knew me better than I knew myself. Whatever the reason, Carmella sensed the change in me.
Aaron was also studying me now.
I sighed. “I don’t know where to start.”
Carmella slid her arm through mine and led me to our booth. It was tucked in a corner on the far side of the bar where music and mayhem were slightly muted.
We took our usual seats.
“Just start at the beginning,” Aaron said.
Where was the beginning? Probably the marking ceremony. Yeah, I’d start there.
Twenty minutes later, I sat back, spent from replaying the events of the past few days.
Aaron slid out of the booth. “I think we all deserve a drink, don’t you?”
Carmella’s eyes were fixed on me, all misty and soft. “I can’t believe Barrett. I asked him about you several times, and he acted like he knew nothing.”
I shrugged. “I guess he’s just trying to protect himself.”
“He needs to take responsibility for his part in this. If your real dad hadn’t found you in time, we would have been fucked.” She leaned across the table and reached for my hands. “Shit, Malina, you’re kinda like a superhero, fate of the world and stuff in your hands.”
“Not yet. That’s Eamon’s job, and if we can’t find a way to remove the taint of sin from my soul, I’ll be a pretty useless hero.”
“Hello, ladies, mind if I join you?”
Drake hovered over us. So Eamon had sent a bodyguard. He really needed to get used to the idea that I’d been trained to protect myself. I was a killer, not a damsel in distress. I wasn’t mad at him, though; this father-daughter dynamic was as new to him as it was to me. Carmella looked up at Drake. He flashed his dimples, making her blush.
“Have a seat, Drake. Did Eamon send you to babysit me?”
He shook his head, sliding into the seat beside Carmella. “No. Eamon specifically said to leave you be. He doesn’t want to come across as an overbearing dad, but I was worried about you. You just slipped out without telling us where you were going.”
“Aw, that’s really sweet,” Carmella said.
“It is, isn’t it?” Drake turned his head to eye her up properly.
Okay, I guess Eamon was more clued in than I’d deduced, but I didn’t quite buy Drake being so concerned. He knew, just as well as Eamon did, that I could take care of myself.
“I’m Carmella.” Carmella held out her hand to Drake. He took it and kissed her knuckles.
I snorted, and they turned to look at me, brows furrowed.
I held up my hands. “Sorry. I guess chivalry isn’t dead. Drake, I have no secrets from Carmella or Aaron. He’s at the bar at the moment. So speak freely around them.”
Carmella smiled shyly, and Drake cleared his throat.
Here it was: the Carmella effect. It worked on all males except Loki. Being a witch blood meant her magic wasn’t as powerful as the average witch, but what she lacked in magical prowess she made up for in charisma.
“You’re a witch blood,” he said.
“Is that a problem?”
“Not at all. I’ve just never met one in person.”
Witch bloods were under the protection of the covens but not part of any coven. Born to witch parents, they were encouraged to lead human lives because the magic in their blood was too weak for the coven. Most of the time they weren’t really trained in the use of magic. Carmella had been lucky to have a witch aunt who had been willing to take her in and train her in the limited use of her magic.
“If you two are done staring at each other, maybe you can tell me why you really came after me.”
“Yeah, right. I forgot you’re Eamon’s offspring, and probably inherited more than just his piggy eating habits and superpowers. You also inherited his amazing bullshit detector.”
I raised my brows.
“Okay, I was gonna build a rapport with you first before weaving this into the conversation, but that isn’t gonna happen now so . . .” Drake leaned across the table conspiratorially. “This is going to sound weird, but I think Eamon is hiding something from me. From us.”
“Why would you think that?”
“He’s usually so open and talkative, but he’s been spending more and more time locked away in his room. He barely leaves the mansion, and I think he’s been having nightmares.”
“And you asked him about this?”
“’Course. He just makes some crappy excuse and changes the subject, so I was hoping you could help out by doing a little snooping.”
Was he saying what I thought he was saying? “You want me to spy on Eamon?”
“See, when you put it that way, it just sounds so . . . shady.”
“But that is essentially what you’re asking, right?”
“Can you just keep your eyes open if you happen to be hanging out in his room or his personal study?”
“Both of which he keeps locked.”
He winced. “I know it sounds bad, but I’m really worried. I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is terribly wrong, and he won’t be so wary around you. If he catches you somewhere you’re not supposed to be, you can claim ignorance.”
“Okay, so what if you’re right and he is hiding something. What makes you think we need to know? It may be none of our business.”
“Or it could be everything to do with us. Eamon is a protector, Malina. It’s in his nature. It’s what he does. What if he’s protecting us and hurting himself by doing so?”
When he put it like that . . . “Fine, you know Eamon better than I do, so if you believe he’s hiding something important to shield us, then I’m in. I’ll find out what I can.”
Aaron returned carrying three drinks, his brows coming down when he spotted Drake in his seat.
“This is Drake, the witch I told you about.”
“Oh, hey.” Aaron set down the drinks and held out his hand.
The guys shook, and then Aaron took the spot beside me.
My forearm lit up with a burning pain. I hissed and turned it over to examine my marks, watching as one of the tallies evaporated off my skin.
“What the fuck?”
“What?” Drake asked.
I held out my arm. “I just lost a tally.”
Aaron examined the marks. “You bloody did.”
“But how?” Carmella asked.
Drake gnawed on his bottom lip. “It must have been something you did, something in the last few hours.”
Well, that narrowed it down. “I did a lot of stuff in the past few hours.”
My phone vibrated with a text message from an unknown number. It was from Nina, thanking me for the money and telling me she was safe with her uncle’s pack.
Thank goodness. She was okay.
“Who is it?” Carmella asked.
“The yaksha I told you about. Nina. The one I gave the winnings to.” I held out my phone, and Drake read the message out loud.
I’m out, safe with my uncle’s pack. Thank you so much for the money. I’d never have escaped without your help. Eventually, he would have killed me. You saved my life.
Nina x
Drake sat back in his seat, blowing out a puff of air. “That’s it. That’s the key.”
“You lost me.”
“I studied the ink. The spell that’s woven into it is a retribution spell. You sin, and your soul must pay the price. I was hoping to come up with a counter spell, something to absolve you of the sin, but we don’t need it, not now.”
“Okay, still lost.”
He pointed at my forearm. “Your mark vanished just before you got that text. Just as Nina was safe. She says you saved her life.”
“Oh, God, yes!” Carmella said, obviously on the same page as Drake.
“Come on, guys, take me with you.”
Drake chuckled. “Malina, all you need to do to remove the sin from your soul is to balance the s
cales. You need to save lives.”
18
Drake was staring at me, eyes all lit up in a eureka moment, but my mind wasn’t quite on board even though my pulse had kicked up a notch with hope.
“There’s no proof that Nina’s life was immediately at stake.”
“The disappearance of the mark is enough validation for me,” Drake countered.
“Yes, if it is in fact related to Nina.”
Drake threw up his hands. “Fine, we’ll just have to test my theory.”
Aaron sat forward. “And how does she do that? There’s no way of knowing if someone she helps is in mortal danger, is there? She can go about being Florence Nightingale until her candle burns out and never come across such a target again.”
Drake grinned. “Luckily for Malina, she lives with a hellhound. People in mortal danger fall into Eamon’s lap at least once a month.”
I shifted in my seat. “So we just wait for a new case, and then I take it. I help whoever comes through the door.”
“Exactly.”
Put like that . . . it made sense. It could work. And if it did, I would finally be free of the sin that had been forced upon me. And I’d be making an active difference at the same time. A warm feeling spread through my chest, and some of the weight came off my shoulders.
When Eamon had told me that my destiny was to guard the world against the denizens of Narak, aside from the initial spike of fear, the first thing I’d felt was a sense of purpose. I’d always believed that being an assassin was who I was. Killing bad guys was my purpose, and damn, I was good at it. But there had always been that low after each kill, an emptiness I’d filled with food, booze, and company. But that night, after helping Nina, something new—warm, intense, and encompassing—had filled my veins. If I could feel that every day, then maybe being the lock to the gates of hell wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, there was plenty of time to learn the ropes. It wasn’t as if Eamon was going to be slapping me with the responsibility tomorrow.
“What can we do to help?” Carmella asked.
As much as I loved them, I knew this was something I needed to do solo. “Just continue doing what you’re doing. Keep an eye on the guild, and let me know if anything strange happens or if Narada resurfaces.”
“The place is being audited by a council-appointed representative as we speak,” Aaron said. “Every kill order is under examination. At least now we know why.”
He picked up his drink and took a gulp.
A shadow fell over the table, and I stared up into Loki’s chiseled face.
“Malina. A word.” He turned and took a step to walk away.
Aaron shrugged and slipped from the booth to allow me out.
Loki paused at the door behind the bar, glancing over his shoulder to make sure I was en route before unlocking it and holding it open. I slipped under his arm into the corridor, and he allowed the door to close behind us. Strange runic patterns flared on the walls before melting into the paintwork.
“What was that?”
“What was what?” Loki said casually.
“The patterns on the walls?”
He scanned my face. “I guess the rumors are true, then. Eamon has found his heir.”
“You know my . . . Eamon?”
“Your father’s existence is a reality to some and a myth to others while humanity bumbles about in blissful oblivion. I just happen to be one of the few aware of his existence. If you should need anything, my doors are open to you.”
“Um, thanks.”
He stepped toward the door and opened it for me.
“Wait, what? That’s it?”
He cocked his head. “Why, yes. Were you expecting something more?”
His attention fell to my lips.
“Stop that, I know you’re not interested in me.”
“You do, do you?”
“Yeah, I have a gut instinct about these things. I find human interaction . . . interesting.”
He smiled wryly. “Well, get ready, Malina, because I suspect your life is about to get a lot more interesting.”
19
“Seriously, Toto, when is that damn bell gonna ring?”
I stared at the brass bell hanging above the front door. My butt was numb from sitting on the third step of the huge Gothic staircase. The air shimmered before me, and Aria materialized clutching a mug of tea. She held it out to me.
“Thanks, hun. I have no idea how you do it, but you always seem to know just what I need.”
She blushed and crouched to pet Toto. “I think your dog needs a walk.”
Shit, of course he did. I made a move to stand, but Aria waved me down. “I’ll take him.”
“Really? Thanks.”
She scooped him up and dematerialized, leaving me to my bell-watching.
It had been almost two days since Drake’s revelation, and not a peep. I’d unpacked and arranged stuff in my room, and then rearranged it. I’d killed the itch under my skin by taking hour-long swims at the crappy local leisure center, two days running, and I’d stalked Eamon until he’d locked himself in his study. After that, I’d wandered around the house, rattling doors and getting under Aria’s feet, which was an accomplishment as she could blur about the place like a windless mini tornado. Come to think of it, I still needed to ask her what kind of supernatural she was because I’d never come across anything like her before.
Ooh, maybe I could use that as an excuse to bug Eamon again.
I drained my tea, took the last three steps down to the foyer, and headed left toward the library. I was turning the handle into the book-filled space when the bell jangled to life.
I jumped, almost losing my grip on the empty mug.
Drake appeared through the sitting room arch, his hands encased in garden gloves. “Well, are you gonna get that?”
My mouth was suddenly dry, and my hands were clammy. After setting the mug onto the small antique table by the side of the staircase, I wiped my hands on my jeans before heading for the door. Eamon and I had discussed this, and the next case was mine as long as I took appropriate backup. Clearing my throat and plastering a smile on my face, I pulled open the door, allowing the noonday sun to stream into the foyer.
“Nice shark impression,” Garuda said from the doorstep.
I dropped the smile and clamped down on the quiver in my chest.
He inhaled, his pupils dilating.
Shit.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“He’s here to see me,” Eamon said from the library doorway.
Eamon’s skin seemed paler than usual. Was that a sheen of perspiration on his forehead?
“Are you all right?”
He smiled. “I’m fine, Malina. Let him in.”
Garuda sauntered past me into the foyer, lending me a whiff of his fresh summer grass smell.
I resisted the urge to slam the door.
I needed to do something. I needed action. Sitting around twiddling my thumbs was driving me crazy. And now Garuda was here, so I’d be riding an emotional roller coaster soon.
Drake ducked out, probably to his greenhouse to play with his herbs. Yeah, he had a witchy haven out back where he tended to spend most of his spare time. He’d invited me to join him, but after half an hour of listening to him harp on about the magical properties of basil, aloe, and chamomile, I’d had enough and politely excused myself.
I just wasn’t a plant person.
As Eamon and Garuda retreated into the library for their man chat, the desire to scream eclipsed the unease Garuda’s presence elicited.
“Wait.”
Eamon paused, door half closed.
“I’m heir to all of this, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, how about you start treating me like one?”
He frowned. “I’m permitting you to deal with clients, Malina. That is what we do.”
“Uh-huh, but what about the rest? This negotiation you’re going to have with Mr. Biceps—shouldn’t I
be allowed to sit in on that? Or won’t I need any negotiation skills when I’m in charge?”
Eamon held up his hands. “No. No, you’re right. I’ve been doing this alone for so long and forget it doesn’t have to be this way. I have my daughter back now. I’m no longer alone.” He opened the door. “Come.”
My eyes pricked. Blinking to relieve the discomfort, I strode through into the library to find Garuda making himself at home in one of the leather wingbacks by the unlit fireplace. I took the seat to his right, and Eamon took the one opposite him.
“You know what I need from you, Garuda,” Eamon said. “Question is, can you give it to me?”
Garuda cocked his head. “You know my fee. Question is, can you pay it?”
Eamon’s throat bobbed. “Your fee is one you’ll need to earn.”
I didn’t get why he had to add the inflection on the word earn, and I was assaulted by the creepy sensation there was a conversation taking place under cover of this. One that I was missing entirely.
Garuda smiled, showcasing blunt white teeth that—for some reason—I found incredibly sexy. I dropped my gaze to his denim-clad knee, which also looked pretty damn sexy.
Man, what was wrong with me? Focus, woman!
“Oh, I think you’ll find my work satisfactory,” he said.
Color bloomed high on Eamon’s cheekbones, and he cleared his throat. “Well, in that case, I guess we have a deal.”
Garuda stood and held out his hand.
Eamon clasped it.
They shook, and the deal was done.
“That’s it?” I asked.
Eamon glanced down at me. “Well, yes.”
I got the impression I’d missed a vital part of this negotiation, but the sharp tinkle of the bell interrupted my thoughts.
This had to be a case.
Please!
I headed for the front door, pulled it open, and froze, a half-formed smile on my lips.
Ajitah pinned me to the spot with his searing gray eyes. “You.”
He took a step toward me, and I slammed the door in his face.
Eamon strode into the foyer, Garuda at his back.
