His Witch To Keep (Keepers of the Veil) (5 page)

She didn’t immediately move. Emotion he couldn’t interpret skittered through her gaze. “I need to shower and change. I think some of my father’s old clothes might fit you well enough and get you out of that bloodied-up stuff. I’ll look in a few minutes. Shower first.” She slipped around him and disappeared. He heard a shower start.

With a frustrated sigh he leaned against the support column and gazed at the cracks in the plaster ceiling. His brain conjured images of both of them in that shower. He was so fucking hard he couldn’t move without triggering pain. He cursed.

Serenity.

No getting around wanting her. His body raged for her whenever he thought about her, which turned out to be pretty damned often. Hell, he’d been walking around with a hard-on for months. She brought out dangerous things in him. Tenderness. Possessiveness. And emotions he’d never experienced. She replaced his despair with hope.

All of it was forbidden.

He remembered that bitter cold December day when he’d first met her, when she’d first voiced her name to him. He’d thought her name perfect, and ironic. Nothing about this woman was serene. Maybe as an innocent child, before he’d met her, she’d been tranquil. Bloody hell, it’d been almost eleven years ago. That younger version of her had been filled with spitfire and anger. A survivor. For him, though, she was his serenity and salvation. His soul had been dying when she appeared that day. He’d become an assassin automaton who waited for Hades’s dictates and then performed the kill. He’d stopped trying to find brightness in life or optimism in the world. All he’d experienced was the depraved, the corrupt, and the truly evil. Then she’d blazed into his world. A bright star. A reason to care.

He’d been cleaning his sniper rifle while he mulled over postponement of his hit when she appeared. The blizzard that paralyzed New York City made an outdoor hit unpredictable. He’d grown up in miserable cold conditions, but that day had been worse. Then she’d materialized out of thin air in that rented staging apartment, shivering and hurt. He’d detected her energy and recognized a kindred human with preternatural ability. And that she was a
pasirinktas
—a Chosen. She’d become mother to a next-generation death reaper. That meant she couldn’t belong to him. Now or in the future. But he was obligated to protect her until she found her mate.

That almost twenty-year-old woman had sagged against the wall and demanded he identify himself. Weaponless and weak from blood loss, she’d glared challenge at him. No one did that, especially not a slip of a girl. Most humans moved out of his way or cowered out of instinct when they detected the death he delivered. But from that first moment, she’d never hinted that she cared about the darkness within him. Out of shock, all he’d managed was to deflect and demand she tell him who beat her face into a mess of bruises and left the bleeding strike lines across her frail body. Even now, renewed rage surged at the memory of those hemorrhaging streaks.

Serenity had uttered, “OLM.” That was long before he knew what the abbreviation meant, but he’d sworn to himself he’d destroy them. Now that he’d discovered the details of what they’d done to her, he’d initiated his plan for the destruction of the Order Lutomaleficum and every single one of their witch hunters.
Actually, more like witch murderers.

No other person before or since her incited such a powerful protective instinct and the urge to seek revenge on her behalf. There was no other for whom he’d throw caution to the wind, sometimes ignoring the god voice in his head.

For years he’d been angry he couldn’t claim her. He’d wanted her even when she’d been months from turning twenty, but not as an easy lay. Never. That Hades would’ve allowed. He wanted so much more from her. The depth of his need not just to protect her but also to keep her both terrified and infuriated him. His uncle theorized a bonded relationship was forbidden, since it’d distract from their duty and create a weakness enemies would exploit. Alexi wished his need to protect Serenity only had to do with her
pasirinktas
status.

He couldn’t make this long-term. Not then. And not now. She deserved the whole package. Too bad it couldn’t come from him.

S
erenity let the shower run until steam filled the small bathroom. With her back against the recently patched plaster wall and her butt on the floor, she stared at the sliding water droplets on the inside of the glass shower stall.

Liz. She’d forgotten about Liz during the past few hours. How selfish of her. She still needed to call the kidnappers. It’d been so long since she’d retrieved the laptop. Would they have hurt Liz because of the delay?

She forced herself to stand and get in the shower. Get through this. Think of Liz. But her mind circled nonstop around the conundrum of Alexi.

How could she have been so stupid and let him kiss her? She could’ve easily fought him off. One well-placed throat jab or properly timed twist and she would’ve been free. Allowing him to kiss her had been a serious error in judgment. Now her active imagination tortured her with the feel of his hands on her, his lips, his powerful thighs pressing into her, and his addictive scent. She imagined his body over hers and in hers. Naked, fierce, and beautiful with his corded lean muscle and many scars. She wanted to lick her way across the sexy lettering on his chest just to hear his breath catch and feel the pounding of his heart beneath her tongue.

Alexi’s mantra in life seemed to be discipline, order, and precision. He rarely smiled and lived off the radar with a rigorous intensity that had well earned him the nickname Shadow. She’d watched him in action with awe. No assassin was as lethal, as focused. He fought with a detached concentration, as if he already knew what was going to happen, and perhaps he did. Then, how he killed his prey, especially the truly evil.

She’d only witnessed that once. He inhaled their life. A normal person would be horrified. It intrigued her. God, she was mentally disturbed to even think that.

The memory of their one night together remained more potent than anything she’d experienced with any other man she’d forayed into bed with. There hadn’t been many men, certainly none since Alexi. He’d been wild and totally lacking restraint and predictability. But always dominant and powerful. She’d never felt so right as when they’d been together.

Then it was over, and he was gone.

Alone and betrayed, she hadn’t cried. Hadn’t allowed a single tear to spill for him, but she’d wanted to. And not just back then. She had a weak moment at least once a week over him. Eight months ago she’d wanted to crawl into a hole and rock back and forth for about a decade. But a single tear would’ve signaled her complete humiliation and his victory, proving he could best her. Instead, she’d pieced together her dignity and tried to leave him in memoryville.

That failed. Forgetting him was impossible. He’d fought to win that night. She would’ve taken her defeat better if he’d uttered a single tender word. But then, that wasn’t Alexi. He was hard, even when she discovered the passion he hid. What happened in that bed had been a different kind of battle. One he’d won, even though she’d wanted to be there. She’d let him win and taken every moment of what he’d given her with eagerness.

He’d branded her soul in that encounter. She hadn’t realized how deeply he’d wedged himself in there until he kissed her today. She’d wanted to surrender to him again.

Uh-oh. Her reaction today wasn’t about great one-time sex. This had everything to do with the accidental bond. Whether bonding happened today or that night long ago didn’t matter. The bonded couples she’d seen couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The link between the two guaranteed he’d be irresistible to her. Not good.

She’d die if she gave everything again only to be so thoroughly rejected.

Chapter Five

“W
here are we?” Alexi asked.

“Long Island. Near my place.” She held up her hand in a
silence-please
gesture just in case he didn’t experience shift blindness this time. In silence she counted until her vision worked.

“Cold,” he mumbled. “You didn’t wear enough for this wind.”

She bit back a retort to his critical tone. The light seared her eyes, but she squinted and caught a flash of concern in his dark gaze. Her stomach clenched. He cared.

Alexi unbuttoned the borrowed black twill coat, a remnant from her long-deceased father’s wardrobe.

She hugged her light jacket tight to her body. “I’m fine.”

“What’s this?” He waved the wallet she’d shoved into the coat pocket.

Serenity’s cheeks burned. “Something to help you make your own way from here. Get a cab or plane. Or whatever.” She shrugged. He probably didn’t need her help, but she didn’t know how to hop them back and land somewhere convenient for him.

He shrugged out of the black coat and held it out to her.

“No, don’t take it off. Keep it. It’s a short walk for me.” His stubborn frown pushed her to add, “I can make it home. Really.”

He put it back on but didn’t move to leave. “I know you won’t ask for my help, but promise me you’ll accept my assistance when I save your life again.”

“Only if you swear you won’t stalk me. I don’t need…just don’t.”

His intense gaze locked onto hers. This wasn’t the relaxed Alexi. This was the disciplined killer. That look incited a round of dread. And goose bumps. Holy hell, he was hot when he got serious.

His gaze didn’t waver as he stared into her eyes. “Whoever threatens you meant for you to die during one of those two missions this week. I was ordered by that Russian to do a non-sanctified hit on you yesterday. And they ordered another assassin to clean up if I failed. They expected me to fail. Their intent by capturing me was to get your location. To get you themselves. That means the price on your head must be high. Very high.” He blew out a long breath that had steam spiraling from his mouth. “Their failure to kill you thus far will escalate their determination. Whoever
they
may be. Are you ready to face that alone?”

Hell no, she wasn’t ready. Her heart pounded in terror, but fear those kidnappers would hurt her sister if she recruited help made her say, “I’m a big girl. Who says I’m doing it alone?”

His lips flattened. Warning flashed in his eyes.

She bit the inside of her lip to stop her smile. She tucked her wildly blowing hair behind each ear to get the distraction out of her way. She didn’t want to miss a single subtle nuance of his features. The ice around her heart thawed a bit. She forced her brain to replay the moment when he’d ditched her. But the wall around her heart wasn’t so easily reconstructed. Maybe her subconscious need for him to care about her made her read too much into his actions, but the fact he refused to stay away had to mean something. She needed to be more than a game to him. Perhaps he wanted to get her back in bed and didn’t want her to die first.

She wouldn’t force him to stay away. She adjusted her backpack to a more comfortable position. “Do what you must.”

“Serenity, I…” He swallowed hard. His gaze filled with concern. “Please, be careful. My number is in your phone.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Dangerous Guy?”

His lips quirked upward. “You will call. I only hope it won’t be too late.”

He walked away.

She watched his tall form stroll up the snowy sidewalk until he disappeared into the blistering wind and swirling snow.

“W
here the bloody hell have you been?” Eli Morgan hurled at Serenity in his crisp British accent as she stepped into her house. “Gone for over a day. Alone? What were you thinking…oh, wait, you weren’t thinking.” He shook his head and cursed under his breath.

The hot indoor air blanketed and warmed her skin. But most of her attention remained out there in the cold, on the gaze searing into her back. Alexi had followed her here, even if a few shoulder glances behind her yielded nothing. She refused to analyze why she was thrilled that he’d tailed her despite her request. What would he think about Eli greeting her at the door? Would he be jealous? Ooh…she liked that.

Just to torture him, she jumped at Eli, hugging him tight, and kicked the door shut.
Take that.

“What the fuck?” Eli said as she hopped away from him the second the door slammed.

She shrugged. “Always a pleasure to see you?”

His gaze narrowed. “Who’s watching you out there that you wanted to make jealous?”

She shook her head. “We’ve known each other far too long.”

“Damned right we have. Don’t forget I followed your wild ass all through your university days and into MI6. I know your games. So, I repeat, what is going on and who’s out there?”

“Why are you here? In my house? Did you get assigned as my bodyguard after the last two gave up?”

He shot her an agitated glare that made clear he knew she was deflecting. “You make all of us Sentry druids look bad. It’s our
job
to protect you.” He shook his head and broke into a smile. “Hell, Serenity. You Mickeyed your last guard and disappeared.”

“The asshole tried to contain me. He called me something I didn’t like. I got pissed.”

“They got desperate and called me in. It’ll be like the old days with me on your ass.”

Her phone dinged with an incoming text. Her heart jumped and stomach squeezed. She riffled through the backpack to grab her iPhone.

The text from Dangerous Guy read:
Don’t.

Excitement raced through her blood. She texted back:
You don’t own me.

Behind her, Eli asked, “Who’s that?”

Seconds later, her phone rang. Caller ID: Dangerous Guy.

She held up her hand at Eli and walked into the downstairs bathroom, closing the door behind her. She answered softly to avoid Eli overhearing. “What?”

In a low, deadly tone, Alexi said, “Do not complicate matters by playing with that druid.”

“Complicate what matters? Us? There is no us, as you very clearly communicated. Maybe he’s the one for me. I’ve done a lot of thinking since our chat the other night. You did make me wonder.”

A low, dark chuckle came through the phone. “If you were interested in Eli Morgan, then you would’ve fucked him in college when he was your bodyguard.”

Damn it. She wanted to smack Alexi. But he had called. He was far from apathetic about her and the potential of her sleeping with Eli. She smiled to herself. “You’ve been stalking me a long time, it seems.”

“I made a promise.”

Her mind rewound to their first meeting. He’d provided her with security and a gentleness so at odds with his external harshness. As she’d dozed off, injured and weak from blood loss, he’d whispered, “
Aš apsaugosiu tave. Visada.
”
I will protect you. Always.
And he had. This, now, could not be about protection only. But she couldn’t have the
everything
she desperately wanted with this annoying man. He wasn’t druid.

She snapped, “So all of this…a few months ago…all of the past ten or so years is just about some promise? Consider your promise met. We’re done. I will be with whomever I want. And that is not you.”

“I respect Eli, but I will put a bullet in the middle of his forehead before I allow him to touch you.”

Oh. My. God.
That was almost a love declaration. Her pulse hammered between her ears. “We don’t work. There is nothing between us.”

A low chuckle came through the phone. “We wouldn’t be talking if you believed that. If I walked in there right now, you would beg me to make you scream.”

“Oh, please,” she said sarcastically.

“We wouldn’t make it to a bed before I would be deep inside you.”

Holy hell, she wanted that. But she resented his assumption. “You are absolutely the most arrogant ass I have ever met. It’d be you doing the begging. On your knees. You’d beg for me to have my mouth around you.” Heat surged through her body, now uncomfortably tight and hot.

Soft, almost lethal, he said, “Do not put others between us. I will not tolerate it.”

“There is no us. There will never be an us.” She hung up. Her hands shook as she slid her cell back into her coat pocket. What the hell was that? And why was she so thrilled by Alexi’s jealousy? What didn’t make sense was if he was so jealous, then why had he deserted her eight months ago?

With a frustrated snort, she slammed her hand against the counter. They didn’t work. End of story.

Think about Liz.
She had to focus on rescuing her sister. Not on the annoyance of a super-hot assassin who wanted to fuck her in the hallway. Those fantasy images would torment her all day. When she caught a glimpse of her red cheeks, she rolled her eyes and blew out an aggravated sigh.

“You okay in there?” Eli asked from outside.

Crap, she’d forgotten about him.

As she stepped out of the bathroom, both of his eyebrows slowly rose. Super-inquisitive mode. Not good. “Important call?”

She shrugged and clenched her fists in an effort to stop their trembling.

“Follow me.” He led her into the kitchen. A graveyard of various electronic parts littered her kitchen counter.

“Oh, shit.” She circled the counter. With a sense of dread she sorted through the collection of cameras and bugs she’d known had been planted in her house. Liz’s kidnappers warned if she touched them, they’d hurt her sister.

He waved a hand over the electronics. “What is this? Who is monitoring you? Is it whoever’s out there?” He nodded toward the front door.

She shook her head. Silently, she counted and mentally put parts together. She glanced up. “You missed a camera.”

He rotated and flipped open his laptop, which rested precariously on the kitchen counter. He punched buttons for a few seconds. “I plugged into the feed. There’s another in…looks like your bedroom.”

He stomped upstairs, reappearing shortly. He tossed the camera onto the counter.

The equipment reflected the best of medium-grade crap, which meant no way to trace it. Expensive stuff had only a few distributors, but this heap of electronic junk could be ordered off the internet. Good purchase, if one’s goal was anonymity. Liz’s kidnappers were careful. Smart.

She jumped when Eli stalked close and yanked up her long sleeves, exposing the cuts and bruising from her zip tie breakout. His cheek muscles tightened, highlighting the north-to-south scar that marred the left side of his face. His remnant of an MI6 mission gone terribly wrong added a bold stamp of danger to his magnetic good looks. He could mask the scar by using his druid power but rarely did. His eyes narrowed. That glare meant a bullheaded bottle of trouble.

“You’re freelancing? And someone had you tied up.” He plowed all ten fingers into his dark hair, holding it off his face for several seconds before letting it fall back into place. “And someone has you under heavy surveillance, which you already know about. This is entirely unacceptable, Serenity.” He waved over the electronics. “Let’s go to your safe room. Right now. I assume whoever planted these didn’t get in there.”

She signaled him to follow her to the basement. With a push, the fake shelving unit slid aside to allow access to a keypad. She punched in the ten-digit code. The wall moved to expose her safe room. When the door slid closed behind them, he ran a hand through his choppy dark hair and blew out a breath. He caught her arm as she passed him into the room.

Her wrists buzzed with heat. She yanked them out of his grasp and rotated them. The bruising was almost gone. “You can heal by touch like your brother? I thought you didn’t have that ability.”

“We’ve all got secrets.” He squinty-eyed her. “I need answers. Be straight with me. Tell me, not because I was assigned to guard you again, but because we’re friends. What the hell is going on?”

How she wished this man made her feel even a fraction of what Alexi incited. Eli was loyal, batted for the right team, and was hands-down one sexy druid. She’d been tempted to seduce him back in college, but one disastrous, icky kiss between them proved that wasn’t happening. “They’ve got Liz.”

“Who has her?”

“I don’t know.”

“How long since someone kidnapped her?”

“Four days.”

He cocked his head and leaned a shoulder into the wall. “Are they making you jump through hoops with the false promise of her return?”

“They threatened to hurt her…well, kill her, if I recruited help or refused to do what they asked. They conned me into two missions so far. Both felt like suicide ops. I didn’t get the impression they actually desired what they sent me after.”

His lips flickered with a smile. “They don’t know who they’re contending with, then. Impossible op is your hometown. But you know better than this. You give them a cookie and they’ll ask for milk.” His eyebrows shot upward with a parental glare.

“You’re right. I knew. But…I had hoped…” She glanced away from him.

“Now that I dismantled their surveillance, what do you think they’ll do?”

“They’ll probably hurt Liz as a threat. I just don’t know what exactly they want me to do or give them in order to get her free. They’re not demanding money or being clear.” She concentrated on not allowing her eyes to glass up. Nothing got her jazzed with emotion faster than someone threatening her family, even if she and Liz hadn’t ever shared a close bond. The bastards knew which buttons to push when it came to making her dance.

“Who do you think they are?” he asked.

“Don’t know. No face. No name. Difficult to follow computer trails. I’m not even sure if the lead communicator is male or female. Could you follow the trail of that video feed?”

He shook his head. “No, it was bouncing off government servers. They’re piggybacking. Best way—”

“To hide.” She nodded. “They can’t be this good. No one’s this good. Everyone leaves a trail.” She pulled the laptop out of her backpack. “Can you copy the hard drive without being detected? You’re better at computers than me.”

“Is that what they sent you after last night?” His lower jaw worked back and forth.