Covetous: An Urban Fantasy Romance (The Marked Mage Chronicles, Book 2)

by Victoria Evers

  “Kat!” The front door pounded with what I guessed was Blaine throwing his weight into it.

  “Side door!” I managed to scream just as Hernandez yanked my disoriented frame back into the kitchen. He snatched a steak knife out from the countertop holder and pressed the blade firmly against my throat, throwing himself behind me to provide coverage.

  Blaine kicked the side door open not ten seconds later.

  “Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” hissed the officer. “Prince Charming.”

  “You would’ve killed her already if that’s what you wanted. You need her,” said Blaine, his voice notably losing his distinguishable air of assurance as he stood on the threshold of the doorway. He couldn’t come in… “She’s no use to you dead.”

  “You bring up a good point.” He slid the knife firmly up to my face, pressing the serrated steel against my cheek. “My boss does need her alive. That doesn’t mean she has to still be in one piece though. What do you think? Is a bit of maiming required?”

  Blaine’s ire set his entire sleeve ablaze with every last rune as he lowered himself, his feet pivoting into a stance.

  The demon clicked his tongue. “Take one step, and I carve her eye out. I’ve never done it to one of your kind, but I have a feeling even your healing properties won’t help it grow back.” His hold tightened around me. “Wouldn’t want to spoil this pretty little face now, would we?”

  “I’d be more worried about your own face.” Slamming the heel of my boot into the top of the Officer’s foot, I simultaneously threw my head back, nailing the base of it in the demon’s nose. I cursed, feeling the blade drag across my cheek. “Move!” I ordered.

  Blaine sidestepped from the doorway just in time as I snatched the demon by the collar, throwing him outside. The runes on my arm helped catapult him—a little farther than I intended. His body crashed against the siding of Blaine’s house, and I just as quickly reclaimed my hold on him. With my grip tightened on the front of his jacket, I used all my strength to force him right into the wall beside my door. His body nailed the brick siding, and I leapt away.

  The officer looked at me, baffled, and prepared to bolt. He made it not one step before being forced to a halt. “What the hell?” He lunged again, expecting to break free, only to be knocked back on his ass. The demon sneered, dropping his gaze to the long area mat resting beneath him.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he groaned. “He said you were clever, but I’ve got to hand it to you; you’ve certainly outdone yourself here.”

  “He who?”

  “Why would I tell you?”

  Blaine made a move towards him, but I immediately shoved him back. “Don’t,” I warned. “One step, and you’ll be stuck in there with him.”

  The Mage crooked a brow at me, kneeling down to peel back a corner of the rug. It was a ratty old thing, only used to wipe off shoes if they were really dirty. Blaine laughed, observing the edge of the symbol I’d spray-painted on the underside of the mat. “Containment sigil?”

  It was a trick I’d picked up from Doctor Madsen. The moment anything demonic stepped into the threshold of this painted symbol, they became trapped inside it, which sadly meant I also would get stuck. I marked areas around the house with them, just in case Blaine or one of his little friends decided to snoop around.

  “Nice touch.” Blaine’s smile was of pure adoration as he rose back to his feet, but it quickly turned devious as I came up and wrapped my arms around his waist.

  “Take it easy there, Romeo.” I pulled out the flask from his back pocket. “Holy water?”

  Blaine nodded, seeing the demon pale just as Daniel had.

  “Let’s try this again,” I said, returning my attention to the officer. “And I’d be very careful with your next choice of words if I were you, because if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m gonna pour this entire thing down your throat before you even so much as get out another syllable. Are we clear?”

  “You think I’m scared of you? Anything you’d do to me pales in comparison to what my boss is offering,” the demon spat. “Torture me all you want. I’m not telling you a thing, Blood Whore.”

  “Wrong answer.”

  “That’s not gonna hurt him, is it?” Blaine whispered. “I mean, the real guy? When he wakes up?”

  “You don’t know?”

  He almost laughed. “It’s not like I make it a habit of attacking demons. And if I do, I’m not hanging around to do a Q&A with the person after they wake up.”

  I cocked a brow at him. “That almost sounds like you care.”

  He shrugged. “Just curious.”

  “No, it won’t hurt Hernandez a bit. But it’ll hurt like hell for him,” I confirmed, looking at the demon crumpled down on the area mat. I splashed some of the water into his eyes, causing him to scream out as I ripped the rug out from beneath him. Prying the officer’s mouth open, I dumped the entirety of the flask down his throat. The demon thrashed and shuddered about violently as I chanted the prayer Madsen had taught me. Eventually, black tendrils of smoke escaped from the Officer’s mouth and busted nose, and he stopped moving. He lay unconscious on the ground, and I pressed my fingers to his neck, checking his vitals. He was fine.

  “Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’m admittedly turned on,” remarked Blaine, leaning contentedly against the opened doorway.

  I shot him a look. “You wanna take a turn on the mat next?”

  His soft chuckle stirred my hair as he knelt down beside me. I flinched, feeling his fingers cup my jaw as he inspected the gash on my cheek. Blaine caught a hold of my hand before I could hit him. “You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m fine.” I brushed him off, grabbing Hernandez’s unconscious frame from under his arms. My runes were still lit, letting me drag his body with next to no effort inside to the loveseat not far from the doorway. Heading back out, I repositioned the old mat, only to find Blaine blocking the door as I turned to go inside again.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” I tried sidestepping him, but he quickly countered.

  “A demon just tried to kidnap you, and you’re going back in there?”

  “It’s my house—”

  “No, it’s your aunt’s house, which means she could have let anybody in there. Clearly, that demon already had an invitation if he was able to get inside. There’s no knowing who else could come in. Electricians, cable repair men, plumbers, your aunt’s book club; they’re all possible risks.”

  I knew exactly where this was going. “And let me take a wild guess where you think I should stay…”

  “Just give me a couple hours to put up a few wards around the house,” said Blaine. “I can’t make it impenetrable like my place, seeing as how your aunt owns the property, but I can at least make it a little more challenging for any lowlife demon to come sauntering inside.”

  “I don’t get it. Why would a demon even want me?”

  “Your blood.”

  “My…what?”

  Blaine leaned against the doorway, keeping an arm pinned across the threshold, barring me passage. “You come from a powerful bloodline. Even though the fullest extent of your abilities hasn’t been unlocked yet, the power is still there nonetheless. And it gets passed down from generation to generation. Any Duke or High Lord in Hell would love to get their hands on you, even by means of kidnapping, so long as they can use you to...”

  “Give them heirs?” I spat, remembering what Raelynd had mentioned in the Hideaway. But…wait. My bloodline? Not Blaine’s. Mine. “Do…Do you know who my parents are? My real parents?”

  His jaw tensed.

  “Are my parents…” Not human? I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question out loud, but Blaine nevertheless nodded. “Is that why you targeted me? Because of my bloodline?”

  “I didn’t ‘target’ you,” he said, his lips pulling into a teasing grin. “And your heritage is hardly your finest selling point.”

 
; Trying to ignore the innuendo, I growled, “Who. Are. They?”

  “This really isn’t the time or place for that conversation, love,” he said, hooking his fingers into the front pockets of my pants. I tried yanking back, but he only pulled me closer, plucking out his house key that I had tucked in the right side, pressing it into my palm. “Go, try to get some sleep. When I’m done over here putting up the wards, I’ll come and get you.”

  “Who. Are. They?” I demanded again.

  “My bed’s particularly comfortable, so don’t feel shy about getting under the covers.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was purposely trying to annoy me—anything to get me to drop the subject.

  “Don’t do that! Just tell me—”

  “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing,” he said, suddenly serious. “Hell knows I was.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Another night.”

  I opened my mouth to further protest when the next thing I knew, Blaine’s hands had snatched me up. In one swift motion, he had me slung over his right shoulder with my upper body dangling behind him as he held me by the waist and thighs.

  “Are you kidding me?” I fussed about, hitting my fists into the middle of his back. “You son of a b—”

  “Watch your language, love.” He purposely jostled me enough to make me shriek as he led us across the way to the side entrance of his place. Without even touching the door, the lock unlatched with a wave of his hand, the door swinging open a second later.

  Okay, even I had to admit, it was impressive. My attempt at homing in my magic skills was like an angry gorilla throwing a temper tantrum. While Blaine’s handiwork was precise, my endeavors usually ended with something smashing, breaking, or exploding.

  Carrying me to the base of the stairs, he swung me back over his shoulder, planting me on my feet. “Sleep tight.”

  “I am not sleeping in your bed!” I barked.

  Without another word, he turned on his heels and headed for the door.

  “Blaine!”

  He suddenly stopped in mid-step, looking back over at me with his lips pulled in, as if trying to hide the most curious smile.

  It only pissed me off more. “What is so funny?”

  He just shook his head.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. It’s just,” he sighed, ruffling a hand through his hair, “that’s the first time you’ve called me by my name since…”

  Since he’d bitten me.

  ***

  Resigning myself to the family room couch, I grabbed the blanket I’d left there earlier and curled back up into the lush cushions. Only, between the lack of sleep and being stuck in skinny jeans all day, I wanted nothing more than to change out of my clothes. I sat restlessly for over an hour, unable to relax. Worse yet, my aunt’s house could be seen right outside through the kitchen window.

  I could run across the way and just grab some fresh clothes. It would only take a minute, if that. What would be the harm?

  My hand reached for the door knob, but I quickly pulled it back to my side. I’d already had enough misfortunes today. And with how rotten my luck was, I’d be stupid to take a chance on something so trivial. But how much longer would I have to wait for Blaine to finish up? I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them down my thighs, seeing the impressions the stiff fabric had imbedded into the skin. Twenty minutes later, and I surrendered.

  No, I didn’t go outside.

  I headed into the laundry room where I’d remembered seeing newly cleaned clothes folded on the dryer. Amongst the set was a long-sleeved tee that on my small frame fell down past my butt as I slipped it on. Contentedly discarding my top and pants, I headed into the family room and plopped down on the loveseat in the corner, nuzzling up with the fleece blanket once more. I told myself to merely rest my eyes. I was not going to fall asleep here. No way in hell would I ever leave myself unconscious and wholly vulnerable, knowing you-know-who could come in at any moment.

  The effort apparently didn’t work though, because the next thing I knew, sunlight was pouring into my bleary eyes as the low drone of Mr. Welling’s lawnmower rumbled outside. I groaned, nestling into the cushion beneath my head.

  I’d slept the entire night?!

  “Rise and shine, lovely,” cooed a soft voice.

  My eyes snapped back open, finding my cheek resting on what I quickly realized was not a pillow, but a warm, muscled chest that rose and fell with every breath.

  “You’re adorable when you sleep,” Blaine chuckled, coaxing his fingers through the ends of my hair as he lay laxly beside me.

  I outright screamed, trying to disentangle myself from the bed sheets.

  Wait…bed sheets?

  I wasn’t on the couch.

  I was in a bed.

  My bed.

  With my legs still wrapped up, I wound up falling out onto the area rug.

  I was in my room.

  And so was Blaine!

  Chapter 10

  Tornado

  Blaine was in my room. In my bed!

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I bellowed.

  “Just making sure you slept well.” Blaine’s eyes traveled freely down my frame as I finally managed to free myself from the covers that I’d pulled right off the bed. That’s when I realized I was still in his shirt, and nothing else apart from my socks and panties.

  I snatched up a pillow and chucked it at his face. “Bastard!”

  “I’d keep your voice down if I were you,” he advised with a devilish grin. “Wouldn’t want your aunt walking in here now, would we?”

  I gritted my teeth. A strange boy in my bed, and me dressed in nothing but his shirt? Yeah, not ideal. “How did you even get in here?”

  “The house key was in your purse.”

  “But you were never invited in.”

  His brows furrowed. “So…?”

  “You’re not allowed inside someone’s home without an invitation,” I gritted, trying to keep my voice as low as possible.

  This didn’t seem to clear up his confusion any. “You’re my mate.”

  “So…?” I mocked right back.

  “So,” he emphasized, propping himself up on his elbows. “What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is yours. That extends to invitations.”

  My stomach hollowed out.

  “I assumed you knew.”

  Blaine hadn’t given me a verbal invitation into his home yesterday…because he didn’t need to. With our bond, there was nowhere I’d be able to go to truly get away from him. He’d always know what I was thinking and feeling and he’d always be able to find me. And get to me.

  I was going to be sick.

  “Now, hop to it, missy,” he declared, rising to his feet. “We need to get a move-on.”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “We. Need. To. Leave. Preferably sooner rather than later.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you!” I barked, noise-control be damned.

  He shrugged, sauntering towards the door. “Fine, stay in town with the big bad demons and killer angel.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I have it on good authority that several more of Hell’s Finest will be making an appearance in your quaint little Evermore, and I don’t suspect their interest is in taking the historic bus tour.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  He gave me another confounded look. “Do what?”

  “Invite them here!”

  “Hey, don’t look at me.”

  “Right, because they’d so conveniently show up right after you would,” I scoffed. “Go sell your bullshit someplace else, ’cause I’m not buying. And get the hell out of my house.”

  Blaine rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Such gratitude, as always.”

  “Gratitude for what? You inviting yourself into my bed?” I snapped. “How did I even get here? I was on your couch.”

  “I figured you didn’t want your aunt seeing you leaving my house come
morning, so I tried waking you up. But you were out like a light, so I carried you back over here before Jenna came home.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you were in my bed.”

  He pointed around the room. I just looked at him confusedly, until I realized it. Everything was a mess. All the picture frames on my dresser had toppled over, books and papers were scattered about the room, and posters that had been tacked to the wall were now tossed to the ground. It looked like a tornado had torn through here!

  “You must’ve had one hell of a nightmare last night, because you ignited several of your runes in your sleep. I was going to leave, but the moment I stepped out of the room, Hurricane Kat started wreaking havoc,” he said, kicking my fallen wastepaper basket back upright with his boot. “I didn’t know what else to do. The only thing that can shut down your runes is my touch, so unless you wanted to destroy your room…”

  “So we slept together?” The sudden urge to bathe myself in bleach overwhelmed me as I forced out the words.

  “You don’t have to say that like you’re going to vomit,” he muttered, leaning back against my dresser.

  “Well, I can’t help my body’s natural sense of revulsion to you,” I scoffed, grabbing a pair of pants from the closet.

  “Keep telling yourself that.” There wasn’t a hint of mockery or conceit to his words, even as he plucked up a picture I had of Reese sitting beside my vanity mirror. Blaine tossed the photograph aside, feeling my gaze on him. “This isn’t a one-way street here, and we both know it.”

  “You actually think something’s going to happen here, between you and me?” I laughed, but it wasn’t from amusement. Far from it. “Wow, I knew you were crazy, but I didn’t think you were this delusional.”

  He just rolled his eyes.