This book contains sexual content and is intended for readers 18+ only!
“Um…hi.” I inched into the dimly lit room wearing a black pant suit that denoted my status as the least knowledgeable mage in history. Dominicous and Toa waited for me patiently, Dominicous with his ankle crossed over his knee, and Toa displaying great posture.
This was one of the rooms that needed extensive repairs after the first battle I’d ever experienced. Once the dust had settled, most of the front of the house, and a great portion of the back, lay in tatters from enemy magic blasting. The interior had been rebuilt, as well as updated, and now the room dripped refinement and elegance for which Stefan’s clan—and my clan, too—was known.
The renovation didn’t make this meeting any more comfortable.
“Sasha, yes. Please,” Dominicous pointed to the chair in front of him, “have a seat.”
“Okay.”
I entered the rest of the way into the room, closing the door behind me. Toa had that flat, blue-eyed stare going. It was amazing that I still hadn’t gotten used to it. Although, in my defense, a nonblinking eye rape was rarely the kind of thing you just eased into.
After I was seated, I looked expectantly from one man to the other, waiting to find out why I was summoned.
Dominicous started. “There are a few things I’d like to discuss. The first, and most unusual, concerns our history. I’m sure Stefan has told you the nature of my personal interest in you?”
I gulped, sweat starting under my arms. He was talking about when I was five years old and got in a really bad car accident. My entire family had been killed, along with people in four other cars. I had been the sole survivor. Not only that, but I ended up a mile away, sitting in a park on my own, with little more than second-degree burns and a bad gash to the head.
Apparently Dominicous was the reason I ended up there, having plucked me out of the aftermath of the wreckage and moved me a safe distance away. He’d also given me blood. From his vein. Kind of gross.
“He has, no doubt, also told you,” Dominicous went on, “that it appears I will not be able to have children. I have tried for…” His face fell, briefly, before he composed himself again. “Decades. Which puts us in a unique situation. You have no parents or family to speak of. I have no heir. We both find ourselves in the same world with similar experiences, regardless of which race we were originally born into. The outcome is obvious; I would like to formally adopt you.”
My breath exited my body in a ragged whoosh. While I’d had a foster family since I was seven, they’d never adopted me. They’d taken the state funds for orphans and allowed me to reside within their house until I was old enough to move on. And while I was extremely lucky to have ended up with loving foster parents and their normal, bratty children, I’d always been different. Not outcast, but separate. Soul-wrenchingly alone. That fact had left me unable to thoroughly trust anyone, and nowhere to put down roots.
So to sit in this chair, in a job I didn’t know how to do properly, in a world I hardly fit into, and to have someone ask to adopt me even though I was a pain in the ass… I couldn’t stop the tears from raiding my eyes.
“But, am I too old to adopt? I’m twenty-two.” I gave him a watery grimace. I probably didn’t have to mention that I acted nowhere near my age.
“Being that I don’t exist in the human records, that isn’t a concern of mine. You will be adopted in our way, which is to say, welcomed into my family hearth and signed onto my documents as an heir. I’m sure you realize that with multiple partners, we don’t always know the fathers of children. It is why we set up a hearth with our mate, welcoming any children she has or begets.”
“But—and I’m just trying to understand, here—but can’t you just snag a woman that already has a kid? Rather than open yourself to jokes and snide remarks because I’m human… ”
“I can, yes. I had a mate long ago, but she died. I was working toward that path again when you resurfaced in my life. It seems you are deeply entwined with Fate. And me with you. There is a reason you survived that horrible accident. And a reason I was nearby to pluck you out. While I do not know that reason, I don’t turn my back on the divine, and being that you are more my child than any I would claim through mating, this solves my problem nicely. And yours.
“You would gain a family and a dowry. From me, you would bring status and political influence to your chosen mate. From you…I would finally have the stability only a family can provide. Your magic would disband any naysayers, and Stefan’s mark would further silence them. There will always be prejudice, of course—that can’t be helped, as you know—but it would be lessened with both your magic and my influence. I think this would work out in the best ways for both of us.”
All I could do was blink at him for a few minutes. While it sounded more like a business proposition than anything, his eyes had gone soft and a comforting smile I’d never seen before played around his lips. He wanted me in his family. Me: idiot human with a ton of power and absolutely no sense.
Through the warm gush in my middle, I found my voice enough to say, “Wow. That’s pretty thought-out.”
Dominicous’ smile grew. “In my position, something of this magnitude cannot be entered into lightly. Plus, I’m fond of you. It was emotion that led me to take you from the wreckage in the first place. This is the right decision. I feel it.”
Another few tears slipped down my cheeks. I nodded, not really knowing what to say.
Dominicous’ eyes twinkled. “Good. That’s settled then. Plus, you’re human. I’ll get grandchildren.”
“Which will turn your hair white from stress, I’m sure,” Toa added in a dry voice.
I rolled my eyes at Toa; he was just pissed he couldn’t unravel half the weird magical spells I accidently created.
“Wonderful. Let’s continue,” Dominicous said, more chipper than I’d ever seen him. “We plan to take a trip back to the council. We have Trek, the white mage from the Eastern Territory, who needs to be brought in. We plan to use him as proof an uprising is occurring. The lead council member has taken a mental hiatus—we need to pull him back into leadership. As a new mage of high magical status, you are also required to give your due. We will need to bring you into the fold. How is your leg?”
I looked down at my scrawny shin, newly out of the cast. “It’s okay. A bit weak.”
“Yes, that is to be expected. And how is your relationship with the Mata? Strong as ever, I hope?”
The Mata were Shape Changers. I’d fought beside them in the last battle in which we captured Trek, the caped idiot. I’d been given Pack Friend status on a kinship level, which meant I was someone they would fight beside if it ever came up. It was kind of a big deal.
“It’s good, except…well, Stefan isn’t thrilled when I go to see them,” I admitted.
That was an understatement! Stefan nearly foamed at the mouth every time I so much as mentioned Tim, the alpha. God forbid I try to go visit without both Charles and Jonas at my back. His behavior was ridiculously overprotective, for no discernible reason. Whenever I tried to talk about it, his mouth got as thin as his patience.
Toa blinked. Which meant he knew something!
I jumped on it immediately. “What am I missing? What’s Stefan’s problem with them?”
Toa glanced at Dominicous, whose gaze bored into mine. “He has history with the Mata. It is not for me to discuss.”
I felt my eyebrows dip. Stefan generally told me everything, both about his feelings—which he usually hated admitting—or anything relevant to the clan. As mage, and hopefully co-leader one day, I needed all relevant information to make informed decisions.
Or so Jonas constantly told me. I barely had hold of my magic, and now I was supposed to learn how to lead. Needless to say, the pressure was mounting, one mountain at a time.
“Interesting,” I muttered, biting my lip.
“You see? She has an unhealthy amount of curiosity and nosiness,” Toa reflected.
“I don’t point out your flaws of stubbornness and sulkiness, do I?” I shot back.
Toa sniffed. “Yes, you do…”
Dominicous laughed. “Okay, Sasha, go create havoc. We’ll meet again in a week or so to discuss our visit to the council. We have some time, yet. A few representatives from the Mata will be accompanying us, so hopefully you can smooth the working relationship between Stefan and their alpha in the meantime.”
Fat chance. They each wanted to bash the other’s head in. Tim tried for patience, and usually then tried not to pick up something heavy and swing it in Stefan’s direction. Stefan tried not to growl and bluster and bodily pick Tim up and throw the bear shifter out of the mansion. Pretty much the best they could each do was stare, flex, and wish I didn’t have any interaction with the other.
It wasn’t a recipe for a lovely afternoon picnic.
I was nearly skipping out the door when I met the frosty stare of one of my bodyguards.
“What are you so happy about, human?” Jonas asked, pushing forward from the wall.
Jonas didn’t like me personally, and he didn’t like that I was human, but because his brain had made the connection that I was not only necessary to the well-being of his clan, but also important, he’d assigned himself the role of my protector. He would, and had, laid down his life to keep me alive.
I think he hated himself more than me.
And yes, normal people would reciprocate that hate—the guy had left me for dead the first time we’d come in contact with each other. Plus, he was a vicious, grumpy a-hole. But for all that, he did save me from capture, and Stefan had implicit trust in him. Plus, I was terrible at holding a grudge, and the guy was hilarious if you took him with a grain of salt.
To that end, I flashed him a huge smile and said, “Dominicous is adopting me!”
Jonas snorted. “Only a fool would tie himself to you.”
“You just called yourself a fool.”
“That’s different.”
“You called Stefan a fool, too.”
Jonas’ eyebrows dipped low over his eyes, his customary irritated look. “We have a possible territory breach at the West Third. Also, your furry friends are here. They say two of theirs went missing around that area, so they want to come along. The Boss says no, but it’s your expedition because he’s tied up, so it’s your call.”
“Obviously I’m going to say they can come.”
Jonas yanked the door open leading into the front greeting room and impatiently gestured me through. He was a gentleman at heart—another trait he hated about himself.
“They’re not riding with me. I don’t want to have to flea bomb my car,” he said when we were within hearing range.
“Would it kill you to be nice?”
“Yes.”
Tim fell silent as I came in sight and turned to me expectantly. Being in his late twenties, Tim was the youngest alpha for his pack in nearly fifty years. The fact that he led a giant, North American faction made him an anomaly. He’d gotten the title the same way Stefan had gotten his leadership role, by fighting for it. He was tough and robust, only about six feet tall, but powerfully sculpted ,with thick cords of muscle running the length of his body. When he looked at a person, they wanted to take a step back from the power blasted at them. Under it all, though, he was a sweet-tempered guy.
Until he turned into a Kodiak bear, obviously.
“Hi Sasha, good to see you.” Tim opened his arms for a hug.
His people were huggers and handshakers, which I loved. I hadn’t gotten a lot of that growing up, so I took advantage of it. I gave him a big squeeze, having really gotten comfortable with him these last couple months. He always made time for me, pleased that I wanted to get to know his people and personally thank his fighters for keeping me alive when we battled Trek, the white mage, in the woods.
He also understood that sometimes I needed to get away from Stefan’s people, who thought humans were mostly worthless. Granted, when you could manipulate and control most of the species, and were simultaneously kept down by them—having to skulk off to the shadows—yeah, I got it. But still, hanging out with other humans, regardless of if they turned into soft creatures with wet noses, kept a girl sane.
He turned to his left and motioned for two others to get up. “This is Jack, the tiger you rode like a horse.”
I felt my face flush. “More like a gurney,” I mumbled.
Jack stepped forward with balanced grace, something I didn’t expect from a stocky, barrel-chested man swinging muscular arms. His gold-hazel eyes connected with mine, giving me a weird kind of thrill—like being stalked on a prairie somewhere. “It was a pleasure fighting beside you.”
“Or under you, like a pony,” Jonas rumbled from beside the door, staring straight ahead in his “I am ignoring all things human or Mata” default pose.
I rolled my eyes. To Jack I said, “Don’t mind him, he’s just mad no one likes him.”
Jonas clenched his jaw.
“And Ann, whom you know, I believe,” Tim went on with a smirk.
Ann stepped forward with a beaming smile, her customary shock of blue hair, and a hug. “Hi! Long time no see.”
“It’s been a week,” I laughed.
“Yeah. A week without a girl my own speed to talk to. I just have these grim party poopers.”
Tim cleared his throat, eliciting an evil smile from Ann.
“Well, cool,” I said, bobbing my head, happy to be alive. I had friends, a clan, a handsome boyfriend and a guy that wanted to adopt me—my life was turning out a-okay.
To Ann I said, “At least I have someone that gets my sense of humor.”
“Everyone else will come around, trust me,” she replied.
“Doubtful.” Jonas stepped forward, suddenly action. “Let’s get going. I got things to do.”
“I am your things to do,” I shot back as Jonas grabbed me by the arm and hauled me toward the door.
“I know. And you’re getting behind.”
“Our working relationship is not exactly professional,” I muttered as Jonas walked me out of the house and left me at the driver’s side door of a giant black Hummer.
“What, not going to open the door for me?” I asked sarcastically as I pulled open the door and scrambled up inside. The responding glare shut me up.
We rolled up to a decrepit building in the industrial part of town. The structure stood in the middle of the run-down block, crumbling and abandoned. Jagged windows dotted the face, littering broken glass on the dirty sidewalk lining its front. Boards covered the doors and graffiti marred the pockmarked brick.
We got out of the car and surveyed the building for a moment, waiting for Tim and the others to pull up. “Quaint,” I said in a hush, scooting closer to Jonas.
Jonas stalked toward the boarded front door, his feet crunching glass and debris into the hard pavement. The sounds echoed along the quiet street, pinging off the walls and disintegrating into the silence. I followed, knowing that with him around, the only people in their right mind who would pick a fight with us were his kind of people. I could handle magic workers; it was the gun carriers I was concerned about—my kind.
“You okay?” Tim asked, stepping beside me and rubbing my back to calm my nerves.
“No sweat. Kinda. So…why are we here, again? Territory breach?”
Jack and Ann split up, each walking in a diagonal line toward the opposite corners of the building.
“Stefan had reports of a breach, but we have two pack members missing. Last we know, they were in this part of town. We’re wondering if the two are related,” Tim informed me, his acute focus scanning the building in front of us.
A loud screech echoed down the street as Jonas ripped off the board across the front entryway. His arms and back bunched with thick, lethal muscle. The wood groaned as it bent, hanging on with steel claws. It was no match for Jonas’ strength, though. A moment later, the board flew to the side, jarring my teeth as it banged off the concrete and slid to a stop.
I took two loud breaths as silence once again descended on our surroundings. If anyone was around, we’d just made our presence known.
Jack disappeared beyond the corner of the building. A moment later, Ann did, too.
“Sasha—“ Jonas motioned me near. He stepped into the gaping black of the doorway.
“Oh man,” I whined, tiptoeing closer.
Tim stayed at my back, eyes scanning the street and then the darkened face of the building. Jonas spared him one irritated glance before honing in on me.
“I need you to sense for magic. Something doesn’t feel right, and it certainly doesn’t smell right. It’s too subtle for me to pick up, though.”
“Do I have to go inside?” I whispered. I rubbed my arms as the lifeless building pressed down around me. It felt hollowed, somehow. Gutted and left for dead.
Jonas stared at me for a long, stern-faced beat. “Yes.”
I pushed the air out of my lungs, a swear riding the wave. I could sprint into danger with a grin and a rape whistle, but this slow creeping into the unknown was not high on my list of loves.
Goosebumps spread across my arms as I crossed the threshold, a feeling of disquiet smearing over my skin like lotion. I barely heard Jonas’ voice speaking to Tim as the cold, dank air washed over me. “Your magic will throw things off, mongrel. Stay outside.”
Tim growled out some sort of threat, but I couldn’t focus on that now. Prickles dotted my exposed flesh, foul magic eating through my senses. Jonas had it right: something was definitely off.
I put out my hands in front of me like a blind person feeling their way in. The rush of power, slippery and hard to control, filled my body as I called the elements, combating the polluted power in the room with blissful joy. My foot went lopsided on a discarded board, popping it out from under my shoe, skittering across the floor in a dull collection of tinkles.
The shadows crouched in the corners of the enormous, empty space, watching me. Moonlight filtered in from jagged, broken windows along the outside of the structure, casting an unearthly glow. My breath rang through my ears, unnaturally loud, interrupting the stillness of a tomb.
This was a very bad idea. I could feel it. How did I land myself in this job, again?
Filling my lungs and then holding it, I inched closer to the back of the warehouse. Large beams crossed above me and touched down periodically, keeping the sagging ceiling in place far above my head. A ring of black along the side wall advertised an old firepit for someone down on their luck. I kept my eyes pointed down, wary of needles and other items lazily discarded after a night of partying.
As I got halfway through the open space, a vulgar feeling began to crawl up my skin like tiny insects. The sickly sweet smell of rotting flesh tickled my nose.
“I’ve never felt anything like this before,” I said quietly, passing my hands through the air. “Although, granted, I haven’t had a lot of experience.”
Shapes took form within the shadows toward the back wall the closer I got. On the right, near the corner of the building, lay a pile of grayish sticks, charred and blackened by fire. Scorched fabric was glued to the various elements of the pile.
Three more steps had me halting, sucking in a huge breath.
It was a body! They weren’t sticks, they were bones coated in masticated skin!
Did that moan come from me?
A face, twisted in an endless scream of agony, lay on the backside of his calves. One arm had been ripped out of the socket and lay flat under his back. One leg, cracked at the thigh, lay over the other. He was broken and twisted, as if he’d been made of matchsticks and sporadically snapped and tossed to the ground.
“No human could have done this,” I whispered. “His back was broken in half.”
“A bear could have,” Jonas’ voice echoed around the crouching walls.
“Not without opposable thumbs,” I retorted into the hush.
A few more steps and I could see another fire site, only this time, there was a large black pot overturned against the wall. A round camping stove, smudged with soot, half lay under it.
“This has got to be a few days old, at least…”
“You’re not here to investigate,” Jonas growled. “You’re here to feel for magic. We have an experienced clan that’ll go over this site and give us more conclusive findings.”
“Oh. Well, you could’ve made that more clear before I looked at the body.”
I let my magic drift, sensing for spells and pitfalls within the area. This was something I practiced every day per Toa’s instruction. A large part of my job was sensing other magic and possible dangers. I still had trouble doing this on the fly, but here, in the quiet settings, the building almost feeling as if it was holding its breath, I had nothing else to do but concentrate.
The black glow of my magic, hardly discernable in the gloom of the warehouse, drifted over the overturned pot. Like a match to kerosene, a circular fire lit up, climbing into the sky. Sparkles danced and played in a shimmering orange halo lazily drifting toward the right. Toward the body.
I could not help that squeak. Or holding my breath afterwards.
Still it drifted. Reaching for that death. What would it do when it got there?
I didn’t want to know!
A blast of rotten stench crawled up my nose, prompting a gag. That smell didn’t come from the body; it came from the disgusting magic corroding this area. Magic that was still active. Lingering, waiting. But for what? Whatever spells had been laid, they weren’t used to create rainbows. They were also extensive and intricate. Beyond my training.
“Not good magic over here…” I mumbled.
My magic spread like a fog over the body. For a second, nothing happened.
“Sasha?” Tim asked into the din.
“Don’t go in there, mong—”
Jonas’ voice cut off as my magic started to sizzle and pop. Like water splashing into hot grease.
“What’s it doing?” I asked Jonas with a quiver in my voice.
“This isn’t normal…” Jonas’ voice drifted away.
“Back out of there, Sasha,” Tim urged from the door.
Something tugged at my magical senses. It was like undertow, rolling and fierce, sucking. Consuming. As fast as magic surged into my body, elements desperate to get in, something in that area stole it again, using my draw to fuel itself.
“Crap,” I mumbled, scrabbling to pull my power back.
“What is it?” Jonas asked, stepping into the building, his tattoos lighting up like a Christmas tree. A great, gleaming sword swung into his hand, the blade glowing orange.
“Get out of here, Jonas! I need to tie off this weird spell. It’s sucking magic to it.”
Jonas took a hasty step back, his body once again receding out of the doorway. Tim backed out with him, but hesitantly.
I got to work, sweat beading my brow, fighting the draw both of that corner, and from the elements fighting to rush into my body.
“Nasty spell-working, this,” I said under my breath, sensing the elements within the casting. “They’re, like, reaching for me. Feeding off my magic. I’ve never dealt with a spell like this. I didn’t even know this was possible.”
“Dark magic,” Jonas whispered. “Hard to work. Harder to control. Someone has balls of steel.”
“Well, it’s not me,” I wheezed.
I snubbed out the elements that made up the spell, like soldering wires, closing the spell in a sort of circuit.
“I don’t think the wielder knew exactly what he was doing,” I murmured, analyzing the lacy structure of the orangey incantation. It hovered within a shaky line spilled on the cement floor. Spilled because it looked suspiciously like blood, sticky and slick, gleaming in the soft light from the window.
As I was about to turn away toward Jonas, wanting to talk about what I’d done, the lacy spell cleared away like mist. In its place grinned the head of a black monster, staring at me like a hungry lion would a fresh steak.
“You did not call me.” Sharp, ragged teeth filled a mouth too big for its face.
Terror jolted me back as a stringy leg stepped forward.
“Sasha?” Jonas’ voice held hard fibers of alarm as it echoed through the cavernous space.
The monster slapped into an invisible barrier. Orange sparks rained down on its head as a tall circle flared to life around it. It glanced up, and then around, noticing the hazy orange circle trapping it. And then its face straightened out, staring right at me out of black pits instead of eyes. In a raspy voice that shivered across my body, it said, “We can rule, you and I. Our power, combined, will be indestructible. Join me.”
“Oh lovely, one of you. Fantastic.”
I eyed its cage as it did, sensing the weakness of it. The shaky spell barely held together. Even as I stood there, the thing was starting to eat away at its cage.
Was this a terrible spell by design, or some sort of failed attempt?
“We gotta get out of here!” I roared at Jonas, backing away as quickly as possible. “This thing is way, way stronger than other Dulcha I’ve seen. It’s feeding off of the magic containing it, somehow. We need Toa for this one.”
Jonas flicked his gaze at Tim, whose eyes were directed in a flat stare, at the scary monster pacing within its sphere. “You wanna go check if the dead body is one of yours?”
Tim started forward immediately. When that thing’s hollow gaze locked on him, his step did not falter.
“Don’t touch the orange cylinder surrounding it,” I whisper-yelled as he passed.
“When he’s done, pull your magic out, but you’ll need to seal off the building,” Jonas instructed as I neared.
“Yes, Jonas, I know. I’m not an idiot.”
His face had turned to point down at me, the area around his eyes tight.
“This isn’t just a normal Dulcha, is it?” I asked in a tiny voice, following Jonas as he backed away from the opening. My eyes scanned the enormity of the building. I thought of the spells at my disposal—the ones I could do well. “I’m not really sure how to seal off something of this size. I mean, containment spell, obviously, but it seems to be eating away at the one locking it in right now. How did the wielder create that thing?”
“Old magic,” Jonas said in a low voice, stepping aside so a grim-faced Tim could exit the door and move past. “More power makes the process easier, but humans that don’t know how to work their magic can call them, too. It takes chants and sacrifices. Blood and death.”
His haunted eyes took me in. “I’m only orange. You are black. If that thing breaks free, my magic isn’t going to stop it. Which means you need to work this shit out. That thing cannot escape this building.”
I grimaced. True words.
“Don’t blow up the building, either,” he added. “It’ll laugh at the fire and keep on coming.”
I groaned. “That didn’t need to be said…”
We backed out to the center of the quiet street, the shape changers all waiting for us.
Tim’s gaze touched mine, tight and serious, before finding Jack. “It was Dom in there. He didn’t make it to his fox form. He was a fast and fearless fighter. No chains or manacles to secure him.”
“How did he get taken so easily? Do your people get manipulated like humans do?” I asked, because that would be a good explanation.
Tim shook his head solemnly.
“I found Phillip,” Ann said quietly. “Killed with a sword. Apparently he was just in the way.”
“The person that called this thing didn’t need two sacrifices—one was enough,” Jonas growled, gaze skewering the decrepit and hulking warehouse in front of us. “Seal this place off, Sasha.”
Him using my name straightened my back and sent tingles down my spine. His eyes, a dark shade of brown with specks of gold, were intense and serious, a spark of fear deep within their depths. That thing in the warehouse had shaken him. Shaken Jonas, the meanest, most fearsome badass in Stefan’s clan.
Not good.
Survival mode washed over me, that glimmer of fear peeking out of Jonas’ stare infusing my courage. I had to stop that thing from getting out. Only seriously bad news could scare Jonas, and only I had the ability to cut it off.
It was not shaping into a good day.
I opened up and let the elements rush in, filling me to capacity, then taking just a bit more. For me, unlike for others, magic shock was a very real issue every single time I used my magic. I couldn’t draw too heavily, or the dam would burst, the elements blasting into my body until my body became overloaded and shut down. So far, that shut down was just for a few hours, or even a day or so. I’d been lucky. Worst case, however, meant that the shutdown would be forever. I had to be careful.
I envisioned placing a huge blanket over that warehouse, draping it in suffocating power. No holes. The weave was water tight. I used mass quantities of earth for the lock, keeping that spell put.
I’d learned a thing or two from Toa. It had given me stress wrinkles, but I was getting somewhere.
As the billowing cloud of magic enveloped the building, I could feel my energy sucking out of my body. I had limitless magic, yes, but like running or lifting something heavy, it took energy. I did not have limitless energy. It was another way things could go wrong.
For all the things I had going for me in the magic world, I had just as many that would result in death if I wasn’t careful. I was forever walking on that razor’s edge.
I reached through my link with Stefan, tugging, needing his special power. The distance softened the connection, lessening his help, but he was with me immediately, balancing the flow. Distributing it.
He was also growing concerned. This was supposed to be a routine stop along his—our—territory. I shouldn’t need his help. That I did would alert him something was wrong.
Gaining a burst of energy, I sprinkled an invisibility charm that would have the eye glancing off of the building should someone wander by. I also tied off this spell, keeping the magic in place. I stepped back, panting with fatigue.
Jonas’ brow had furrowed. “You did more than just disguise it, right?”
I continued my eye-rolling marathon as Tim stalked up, having left with Ann around the building when I started my spell. “Obviously.”
“There’s nothing obvious when you do magic…”
“He was taken down cleanly,” Tim said, glancing around the area.
“What were they doing here?” Jonas asked suspiciously.
“We had notice of a wilder in this location. They came to check it out.”
Jonas and Tim stared at each other for a moment, before Jonas took one more glance at the building and headed back to the car. “C’mon, we gotta let the Boss know.”
A thrill ran through my stomach at the mention of Stefan. As always, I couldn’t wait to get back to him. It was like an extended honeymoon period with him—part of me wanted to just hang out in the same room and stare at him while drool dribbled down my chin.
At the moment, however, unease ate away my longing to touch him. He knew something was wrong, and he wanted me away from whatever it was. Like any alpha male, he was protective and possessive to a fault, wanting to wrap me up in bubble wrap and stow me away from harm. Obviously that was as harebrained as it was impossible, but it didn’t prevent his agitation when he couldn’t protect me.
Scared Jonas on one hand, partially irrational clan leader struggling for control on the other. The day was not getting any better.
As I turned toward the car, Tim said, “We’ll hang on—I want to see to Phillip’s remains.”
Jonas nodded and motioned for me to hurry up and get in the car.
“Alright, this is your time to assert yourself,” Jonas coached as he started driving. “This is an important and valid discovery that you made.”
“We did it together—”
“You are the Black Mage, which means you technically led this expedition. You are in charge—”
“Which no one can tell since you constantly bully me.”
“—and you need to demonstrate that if the Boss has people around him. You need to start showing that you pull rank with everyone but the Boss. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“You need to act mature and professional. Can you do that?”
Not a chance. “Absolutely.”
We pulled up to the front of the mansion, only a faint glow seeping from the front windows. Jonas slammed the gear shift into park and opened the door. “Alright, let’s go.”
Ten minutes later, we arrived at the room my link told me Stefan occupied. Jonas stepped forward and pulled open the door. I got an impatient thumb jerk from him, telling me to enter. As I crossed the threshold; the world fell away. All I could focus on were those intelligent, dark eyes, looking at me out of that earth-shatteringly handsome face. My stomach exploded in butterflies as my chest tugged, wanting to close the distance and touch him. The emotion through the link held the same longing, the same single-minded focus as Stefan paid homage to me entering the room.
In the beginning, this would irritate people to no end, no one understanding why everything ground to a halt so we could share a moment meeting our other half. After Stefan scared the crap out of a few people for interrupting, or I accidentally zapped them with magic, they all got the hint. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but in that time, nothing existed in the world but each other.
“And they’re back,” Charles said as I exhaled, taking in the scene.
Stefan stood near the far wall, holding a sheet of paper with that sexy muscular arm. His rippled body stood in repose, in the middle of some business meeting that must have to do with our journey in a few weeks, because all of the top army guys and gals, including my new adopted dad and his staring side-kick, were present. Stefan’s slacks fit him oh-so-right, showing off that defined butt and his strong thighs. A dress shirt strained across his enormous width of shoulders and hinted at his mouthwatering pecs. Those washboard abs were hidden, but I salivated knowing they were there.
“Having a hot flash?” Charles asked with a smirk, the only one allowed to back talk to me in Stefan’s presence.
Charles had been through serious crap on my behalf—he’d earned it.
“Sorry, where were we?” I swung my gaze around the crowded room.
“We were discussing the needs of the clan in our absence,” Stefan said smoothly, eyes devouring me instead of going back to his paper.
I cleared my throat and noticed an intense stare from Jonas. Oh yeah. Lead.
“Well, we might need to put that on hold. We found something.” I just barely left off the uncertain, “is that okay?”
Stefan’s eyes cleared of heat. Anxiety crept back into the link, having disappeared when I arrived in one piece. “What is it?”
I quickly ran through what we found at the warehouse, watching carefully as Stefan’s face got grimmer and grimmer with some emotion he was trying desperately to suppress. The link warred with shock and fear and determination. When I finished, more than a few people, including Dominicous, were subtly glancing at him.
“You contained it?” Stefan asked in a low voice.
I nodded. “But we need to get rid of it somehow.”
Determination took over the link as his jaw set. “You stay here. I’ll deal with it.”
“She has to remove her charm,” Jonas said in as small of a voice as I’d ever heard him use.
Stefan’s gaze skewered Jonas.
“Orange was containing it,” I rushed in quickly, knowing Stefan didn’t want me anywhere near that monster, and also knowing the decision came from a man in love, not a leader. Nothing would undermine me faster than if Stefan tried to put Baby in the corner.
“If it escaped orange power, then Jonas wouldn’t be any good, since he is also orange. It’s my job, Stefan.” I straightened my back against that scorching, dominating stare. My warning butt tingle sounded, screaming at me to flee. Still I stood my ground, nearly letting terrified chuckles escape my throat to let the tension out of my body.
That intense, black-eyed gaze retracted before he grudgingly nodded. I took a silent breath, trying to ignore the sweat dripping down my back.
“Let’s go.” Stefan moved across the room. “Jonas, assemble a team. Charles—”
Stefan cut off, his eyes flicking to me. Jonas was staring again.
Oh yeah. Lead.
“Charles, get Adnan,” I jumpstarted. “You two are mine so Stefan can use Jonas.”
Stefan gave me the briefest of nods, indicating I did the right thing. Thank god.
“You’re going to take a juvenile for protection?” Claudia, a red power with a mean right hook, came as close to a snicker as was possible for it not to be a challenge.
I stared her down, trying to get my gaze to shock into her like Stefan’s always did. Condescension stared back.
“You’ll challenge him to a duel tomorrow,” I noted smoothly. “We’ll see how you hold up against a juvenile. I will personally tell you you’re right if you win. Now,” my gaze swept the room, “let’s get going. That thing was too smug for my taste.”
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