StrategicLust (11 page)

The blonde witch twisted beneath her and even though she
couldn’t get traction, Kate didn’t go for her manacle cuffs without a proper
grip on her. Part of the elementary, most basic beginners training was to not
bring out a weapon you couldn’t use properly or almost instantly.

Kate clearly recalled the lessons of how even the most
simple of items could be used against you as a weapon in the close confines as
a struggle such as this. The last thing she wanted was to have Sharni steal her
cuffs and use them against Kate herself.

Not only was Kate wary of the ignominy of having her own
possessions turned against her but, worse to her mind, should such a thing
occur she would be helpless to assist Josh should he need it. Sharni tried to
thrust Kate off her body but Kate dug her knees and heels into the soft carpet
and held her ground. Leaning over the blonde witch, Kate’s center of gravity
was stable and even though Sharni had worked herself onto her back, Kate could
still limit the damage the witch could do.

“You’re going down, bitch,” Sharni spat. Kate ignored the
jibe and instead focused on trying to restrain the other witch’s hands. Sharni
lashed out and, even though Kate ducked out of the way, Sharni struck her a
hard blow to the shoulder.

Kate winced but ignored the pain, focused completely on her
objectives and not letting anything distract her. In lightning-quick seconds
she tried to gauge the best and most effective methods of ending this fight in
her favor. Pressure points were out—they often took long seconds or even a
minute or more to take effect. Sheer brutal overpowering had to be used
carefully—Kate wanted to restrain and debilitate the blonde, not kill her
outright.

Even though she thought about and discarded a number of
methods, only a few seconds had passed before Kate shifted her weight. Her idea
was to position herself so that when the opportunity presented itself she could
use her knees to pin Sharni’s shoulders or arms and restrain her in that
manner.

Struggling against each other, Sharni and Kate were
intimately close, breathing each other’s air and moving whip-quick against each
other. So when Sharni turned her face and glanced out of the window, despite
her instinctive urge to follow suit, Kate didn’t. The sinking sensation in her
stomach told her exactly what her instincts believed.

A dark glint appeared in Sharni’s eyes and she redoubled her
efforts. Kate cursed silently, swearing to herself the ten different ways she
would extract revenge from Josh Delamere’s very sexy, tight ass should he have
somehow lost his mind and shown himself to the witch.

“Are you doing him?” Sharni panted as she exerted herself to
try to find a break in Kate’s guard to offset her. “He looks handsome as sin—I
bet he’s a tiger in the sack.”

Kate desperately wanted to hiss and spit at the witch, but strongly
resisted the impulse, knowing it would be a mistake and would give the blonde
far too many opportunities to overpower her. Kate had insisted to Josh that she
could handle this, and even if he were the cause of her losing her focus and
concentration, she would still look a fool should she lose this battle with
Sharni.

“I’ve heard some wicked stories about Delamere,” Sharni
continued in her syrupy tone of voice, meant to needle and sow doubts and
insecurities. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, but successful for a
very good reason. Human nature being what it was, questions and concerns could
grow in the mind and eat away at a person until they were begging for release.

“There were these sisters, for example, who said he would do
them both simultaneously, that he was as good with his hands and tongue as he
was with his prick,” Sharni purred. Kate grunted, frustrated by their struggles
and even angrier with herself when it gave Sharni the change to lever herself
up onto her side.

Kate saw an opportunity. If she could lead Sharni to believe
Kate had weakened and given an opening, she could predict when Sharni would
move and counteract her. Feigning the mistake would be risky, but possibly give
her the edge she required.

“I can’t believe you’ve let yourself become another notch on
such an infamous bedpost,” Sharni pressed poisonously. “Your reputation is for
being nothing but professional, one of the best, and yet a handsome face,
killer set of abs and a long, thick cock is all it’s taken for you to spread
your legs and beg prettily for him to—”

“You have
no
idea what you’re—” Kate began with
precise calculation. Even though she outwardly appeared to have snapped and
lost her temper, in actual fact her attention was razor-sharp, on nothing
except her body’s position in relation to Sharni’s hands and slim body.

Sharni, seizing her apparent opportunity, used Kate’s
swearing, angry response to lever her body free and try to flip Kate over. Kate
accurately gauged Sharni’s center of momentum and turned it back on the witch.
So instead of Sharni tossing Kate to the ground, Kate dodged and
followed
Sharni, pressing the slender witch face-first into the carpet.

It only took a heartbeat for them both to react yet again.
Kate whipped out her dagger and cuffs, pressing the pointy end of her knife to
Sharni’s throat as she snapped one end of the manacles around a wrist. Sharni,
uncaring of the potential damage as she fully recognized this would be her last
chance, arched back and lashed out her free hand and threw a powder toward
Kate’s face.

Kate dodged, but it caused her to alter the pressure of the
knife, which fell away from Sharni’s neck. No longer threatened quite so
direly, Sharni pressed her small advantage and lashed out wildly with her
manacled hand. Kate didn’t know if she reacted slowly because of the fierce
burning on her neck and shoulder where the powder had fallen or whether Sharni
merely got very lucky, but she caught Kate’s cheek with the unrestrained
magical manacle.

A throbbing welt appeared on Kate’s upper cheekbone, the
pain radiating almost in tandem with the burning on her neck and shoulder. The
burning soon turned to itching and Kate guessed the powder had been some sort
of pepper or poison ivy derivative.

Sharni grunted and Kate decided to play hardball herself.
Fed up with trying to be
“nice”, she twirled her dagger hilt-side-up and snapped a short but hard jab
with the handle of the blade to Sharni’s temple. It wasn’t precisely good
sportsmanship to strike a blow to one’s opponent’s head, but Kate was not in a
charitable mood. Her neck burned and stung and she could feel the gash on her
cheek dripping blood.

In short, Kate felt like a mess and a gauche novice. She
hadn’t been so close to being beaten since she was a green, fresh trainee.
While not devastating, the blow was enough to knock Sharni unconscious and Kate
promptly took advantage, twisting her other arm behind her and restraining her
in the other manacle.

Kate stood and finally turned around, glaring hard at Josh,
who had stood up to get a clear view of the fight. He was on the balls of his
feet, crouched as if he were about to leap forward and defend her, and Kate
could feel her temper almost snap.

“I can’t believe you!” she shouted angrily. “If I hadn’t
known practically
exactly
what you had done, Sharni catching sight of
you could have been the end of this. If she had surprised me, she’d have gone
right for your throat and all this effort and trouble we’ve gone to would have
been wasted.
What
did we discuss
at length
and both
agree
to?”

Kate didn’t even give Josh a chance to say a word—she
stormed angrily over to the sliding door and ripped it off, in a fiery temper
of fury that in that moment she didn't think anything could abate.

“You were to stay down, keep your head
out
of this
and stay safely clear of Sharni and all of this. What
part
of that plan
did you not comprehend, Delamere?” she practically shouted.

“Circe, but you are beautiful when you’re angry,” Josh
replied, his face seeming genuinely stunned and smitten.

Kate had the not unusual sensation of simultaneously wanting
to beat Josh bloody and wanting to draw him close to her and kiss him stupid.
She settled for punching him in the shoulder instead.

“Come inside and for fuck’s sake don’t go near her,” Kate
grumbled, still in quite a temper. “Even manacled she’ll have a few tricks up
her sleeve. That powder she threw at me is painfully burning my neck to bits.”

Kate stormed off into the next room and took one of the
kitchen chairs back into the far room with her. Dragging Sharni’s unconscious
body onto the chair, Kate hastily but carefully unclasped and re-clasped the
manacles so Sharni’s hands were behind the back of the seat. She now was
chained to the chair as well as having her hands bound behind her back.

“Should we find a first aid kit and look at your cheek?”
Josh asked worriedly when Kate stood back to double-check her handiwork with
the manacles. She didn’t want even the smallest chance that Sharni might be
able to break free.

Kate turned to look at Josh. He looked genuinely chastised
and repentant, though the wicked twinkle in his amber gaze spoke volumes of his
horniness. Kate was not surprised to find the girl-fight might have turned him
on, but she felt bemused by that fact more than aroused. Wizards could
sometimes be so very predictable.

“Actually I’m more worried about that powder,” Kate admitted
softly. She undid the top button of her shirt and pulled it aside to show her
neck. “Am I actually burned? It hurts like fire.”

Josh made a great show of peering at her neck and tilting
her jaw from side to side, though thankfully he had the good sense not to touch
her skin and possibly make contact with any powder that remained and hurt
himself. Kate could tell he was attempting to look down her shirt and peer at
either her breasts or her bra—she wasn’t sure which—but with only the first
button undone he couldn’t see much at all.

“No,” he finally replied, “it’s red, irritated and a bit
angry-looking. But there’s no blisters or breaking of your skin. Hopefully it
is just an irritant. I’m more than capable of sitting here and watching Sharni
while you go and look at it in the bathroom mirror.”

Kate shook her head, even though a part of her desperately
wanted to look. She knew the burning sensation would get worse while she
couldn’t see it and gauge for herself, but she trusted Josh to a soul-deep
level. If he said she wasn’t burned, she could wait until later when they were
both safe and somewhere far more secure before she doctored herself.

“No, it’s okay.” She relented and tilted her face up to
Josh’s. For the first time since she had entered the house, Kate took a deep
breath and really looked at her lover. His hair was all mussed—he had obviously
been running his fingers through it. His eyes also had a small measure of
strain around them. The last of her irritation and anger washed away and left
only concern and worry for his safety.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” Kate said contritely. “I was
angry and worried, but far more concerned with your safety. Lashing out at you
just helped me to work out the fear. I shouldn’t have been so harsh.”

Josh bent his head and captured her lips, his fingers
tilting her jaw up so they met perfectly. They kissed each other hungrily and
breathlessly. When Kate broke away to suck in some air, Josh shifted his lips
and tenderly kissed her cheek and around the edges of her gash. Kate winced
slightly even though his touch was feather-light. Already the nasty hit was
beginning to bruise and hurt.

“So much for the heap big bad Guardian, eh?” she poked fun
at herself wryly.

Josh snorted. “From where I was standing and watching, you
looked as if you had it pretty much under control most of the time,” he
insisted valiantly. “She got a few lucky strikes in, nothing more. You made my
heart go pitter-pat with the show of your womanly awesomeness.”

Kate eyed him shiftily, half convinced he was making fun of
her, but astonishingly Josh retained a straight face and seemed to be perfectly
in earnest. Kate snorted and shook her head, puzzled but her pride stroked
nevertheless.

Before she could reply and question her lover further,
however, Sharni stirred. Both Kate and Josh turned their attention to the
blonde witch as she groaned, blinked a few times and finally opened her eyes
and sat up more fully on the chair she was manacled to.

Kate and Josh went to stand in front of Sharni as she
regained consciousness. Kate watched as the blonde witch’s dark-brown eyes
fluttered slightly for a few seconds before opening a crack. Sharni appeared to
glance from Josh to Kate and back again, and released a whisper-soft laugh that
held no trace of humor within it.

“Ooh,” the witch said huskily. Kate watched warily as Sharni
licked her lips, then cleared her throat and tried to speak again, this time
more clearly.

“Is this the part where you ask me questions and in a fit of
remorse or eagerness to get away I spill my guts?” Sharni commented
sarcastically. “Do you realize there’s a double standard when it comes to this?
When the ‘bad guys’ do it, it’s called torture—part of being a nefarious, evil,
bad
person. Yet when
you
guys do it—the Enforcers or the
Guardians or even the sanctioned Assassins—it’s merely ‘part of the job’. Have
you ever thought about those conflicting attitudes?”

Kate swallowed hard, her stomach twisted into knots. She had
never tortured a person—human or magical—in her entire life. Certainly there
had been times like this, when in not too dissimilar ways she had questioned
rogue witches or wizards to glean information from them.

Never had she caused serious injury or irreparable damage,
however. Neither had Kate ever thought it on a par with the atrocities true
torture produced or the careless, purposely painful manner the “other side”
frequently implemented.

For the first time since she had known him, Josh appeared
speechless, so Kate decided to reply to the blonde witch.

“Unlike your so-called bad guys,” Kate explained softly, “most
wizards I know actually care about the health and physical wellbeing of
detained rogues when they are being questioned. I’m not going to pretend I’ve
never laid a hand on a captive under my charge, nor am I going to defend my
colleges and their actions. But the reason most of us don’t compare the torture
we have endured under the bad guys’ questioning and our brand of questioning is
that we return mostly whole captives to our superiors for the Tribunal to deal
with. Your compatriots can’t say the same thing, can they?”

Sharni leaned back in her chair and restlessly circled her
shoulders to ease the tension Kate could well believe gathered in her muscles,
seated as she was. Kate continued to eye their charge carefully. She was not
remotely a novice and knew full well that the blonde could be using their talk
and banter to distract Kate while she tried to get herself free.

Kate didn’t want to appear weak, so she was happy to banter
and philosophize with Sharni if that was what the witch led her to. That didn’t
change the fact that Kate was on high alert for any tricks the blonde might
pull. Just because she was talking up a storm didn’t mean Sharni had embraced
her situation or would meekly follow along.

“You didn’t even turn a hair at the mention of being brought
before the Tribunal,” Josh commented shrewdly. “I’m betting that’s because you
know you have an ace in the hole, right?”

Kate felt proud of Josh. His voice didn’t tremble or show
the least worry or fear. He was not a fool—he had to know being so close to
Sharni could go either way, yet he used logic and clear-thinking and seemed
disinterested in her response, presumably to lull her into believing they knew
far more than they honestly did.

Sharni smirked confidently and tilted her head in silent
acknowledgement.

“You above all wizards should know, Delamere, never to
underestimate a canny witch,” she replied. “We always have a trick or two up
our sleeves. Why don’t you come here and I’ll whisper secrets in your ears?”

Josh snorted and Kate didn’t move a muscle, knowing full
well her lover could handle the taunting sarcasm of the witch. While she
worried and didn’t underestimate Sharni, she had never believed Josh would be
cavalier or hot-headed over his own fate. He could stand up for himself.

“I’m rather enjoying the view from here,” Josh replied
charmingly without the least hint of sarcasm or smarmy attitude. Kate realized
Josh was actually in earnest, though she understood he was enjoying seeing
Sharni under control and about to answer to charges.

“I’m sure the concept isn’t new to you,” Josh continued
after a second’s pause. “Tell us what you know and who you’re working with and
this will all be a lot simpler.”

“Simpler for you and Red over there,” Sharni snorted, a mean
glint in her dark eyes. “It certainly won’t help my chances at all. I can’t
believe you really think I would be green enough to fall for that crap. You
look at me with those sexy eyes, smile a little and just ask me to tell you all
my secrets? Honestly, do I look twelve?”

Kate shifted restlessly from foot to foot but didn’t
comment, happy for now to let Josh question the witch. Part of Kate already
knew from Sharni’s attitude and actions that she would tell them precious
little if anything at all. Letting Josh question the blonde could do no harm.
Indeed, his different technique and desire to see this end might even result in
more than Kate could possibly extract alone.

It also helped with Kate’s plans to have Josh retain
Sharni’s attention so she could study the witch more fully and closely. She
hoped to be able to gauge when the blonde would make her move. She studied the
witch silently and tried to ignore the cut on her cheek, which throbbed
painfully. Licking her lips, Kate blinked rapidly and pushed the uncomfortable
pains, aches and twinges of her body to the very back of her mind. She
reassured herself that she could deal with them all later and pamper herself.
Right now Josh’s safety and keeping Sharni under control were far more important
than her own cuts and scrapes.

“Well then,” Josh said with a casual confidence Kate found
herself envying slightly, “since you don’t want to say anything and we’d just
be wasting our time asking questions, I guess we’d better think about what to
do with you.”

Josh turned to Kate. While she turned her face to appear as
if she were focusing on her lover, she kept her attention on Sharni as best she
could.

“Obviously we can’t take Sharni here before the Tribunal as
a group,” Josh continued. “But I think we could get away with taking her to
Morgan.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Kate agreed, determined to play her
part as best she could. Josh could have had a secondary career as an actor,
since Kate had little trouble following the wizard’s lead. “You’ve already
defied the Tribunal once, burning the grimoire. It will be pittance for such a
rebellious young wizard like you to break with tradition and take a rogue
directly before your mentor instead of going through the regular channels such
as the Special Operatives or the Tribunal as a whole.”

Sharni shifted in her seat, clearly uneasy and not even
attempting to hide it.

“The Tribunal might have a few nasty things to say about
that,” she commented. Kate could tell the witch was not happy but neither was
she exactly sweating or upset just yet. Mentally Kate urged Josh on, hoping he
caught the weakness Sharni betrayed and was prepared to go with it and see what
he could uncover. Yet again her lover didn’t let her down.

“Nasty things?” Josh laughed, utterly carefree. “After
facing them and admitting to burning a grimoire with a dark ritual in it,
something to displace time, nothing
nasty
they could say to me would
possibly make me quiver.”

Kate spared a brief, loving glance for Josh before returning
her attention to Sharni. The second day they had been cooped up together in the
motel, Josh had discussed his feelings when he, Hayden and Kiera had faced the
Tribunal. Josh had admitted to almost wanting to wet himself in fear over
facing down the wrath of the Tribunal.

He had described the scene in vivid detail—it wasn’t as if
there had been anything else pressing for them to do at that stage—and Kate had
a very good understanding of how terrifying the whole ordeal had been for her
lover. Yet again she mentally praised Josh for his acting skills and gentle
manipulation of the situation with Sharni.

“Now you,” Josh pointed out to the blonde witch, “you might
have other problems. There are two eye-witnesses against you, which prove your
nefarious intent with the blowpipe and neurotoxin. Not to mention that we have
a corroborating witness statement from a highly placed and well-respected
Healer who can vouch for the toxin and its effects on me.”

Kate schooled her features not to change at this description
of Aubury. It wasn’t that her friend wasn’t well-respected or highly sought-after,
but her appreciation for the way Josh had with words skyrocketed.

“All this adds up to quite a strong case against you proving
the attempted fulfilment of an illegal contract out against my life,” Josh
summarized with what seemed almost like relish. Kate had to struggle not to snicker.
Her lover was most thoroughly enjoying himself.

“Is that supposed to scare me?” Sharni replied with a raised
eyebrow. Josh placed his hands on his hips for a moment before he leaned
forward slightly. Kate could tell the first gesture was a silent albeit telling
gesture of frustration on her lover’s part. When Josh leaned forward she
wondered if he was possibly trying to intimidate Sharni.

“I don’t need to
try
to scare you,” Josh replied
firmly. “I think a smart witch like you knows exactly when she’s in a corner
and needs help.”

“For the record,” Sharni answered with evident distain, “I’m
not in a corner. I’m sure if it came to it I could quite easily explain away my
involvement in the supposed contract out on your head. Added on to that, I know
enough about the other group hunting you and your friends that I could probably
make trouble for other people to get myself off.”

“You know Elijah and the other group?” Josh replied with
surprise. Sharni smirked.

“It’s a small magical world, you know that,” she replied
without actually answering. “And as you so rightly pointed out, when I am taken
before the Tribunal, all this doubt, all the shadows and other conspiracies I
can expand upon will help any whispers that filter around the elders to gain
strength and I will be vindicated.”

Josh leaned forward even closer and Kate’s instincts flared.
Her interest in what Sharni had been saying—and just as importantly
not
saying—had not altered her focus. Sharni’s tone seemed to have served its
purpose in lulling Josh into a false sense of security. The fact that Kate had
even momentarily not been paying a hundred percent attention to the witch’s
body language was enough to set her on high alert.

The act of Josh moving closer had her magical gift sounding a
warning. A slight, almost unnoticeable change in the way Sharni sat had Kate
lurching forward protectively. At that precise moment Kate had no clear idea of
what was about to happen, but every iota of training and every inch of her subconscious
knew it would be bad and quick.

After that, everything appeared to happen at once.

Sharni stood up at the same time Kate roughly grabbed hold
of Josh’s shoulder and hoisted him as far behind her as she could, as speedily
as possible. Kate’s movement was too sudden for Josh to react, catching him
completely by surprise. He was half a dozen feet behind her, still struggling
to retain his footing, before he even knew what had occurred.

Kate didn’t bother to let her attention follow Josh once he
was safely behind her body. Moving to place herself more solidly as a barrier
between Sharni and Josh, she crouched and tried to gauge what Sharni’s next
move would be.

In the few seconds it had taken Kate to forcibly move Josh
to safety and intercede herself on his behalf, Sharni had already wedged the
bottom of the chair leg and twisted the solid wooden seat. The sickening sound
of wood cracking filled the room, and with two mighty heaves the chair
splintered into a few large chunks.

Kate stepped forward, not having completely thought the move
through. Sharni’s wrists were still bound by the magical manacles, but with the
chair now in pieces it was more a minor annoyance than a movement-restricting
maneuver. Still playing catch-up Kate realized the situation as a whole was
rapidly falling out of her control.

It didn’t take more than that to sink into her beleaguered
brain before her priorities and training snapped into action and took a firm hold
on her—the client’s protection, safety and health always,
always
came
first, no matter what.

“Josh, get out of here,” Kate commanded forcefully. She
didn’t even turn around, used to regular situations and normal clients who were
partly afraid of her and usually terrified of the position they had fallen
into. Ninety-nine out of a hundred clients would jump at her merest suggestion
and run when ordered to in a situation such as this.

With her entire attention focused upon Sharni and mentally
scanning possibilities of what to do to now control the witch, it took a few
precious seconds for Kate to realize she did
not
hear the rapid
footfalls of a large, Josh-sized body running for the nearest exit.

Knowing she couldn’t risk taking her eyes off her nemesis
for one second, Kate frowned and snapped angrily. “Josh, what the fuck? Get
out
of here! This is not the time for macho heroics. I can deal with this, and your
safety comes first. Run. Leave by the front door, the side door, a window. I
don’t give a shit how, just
move
your sexy
ass
or I will kick it
mightily the moment I get a spare second.”

Kate grunted as she realized that in the half minute she had
spent yelling at her lover—who honest to heaven should have known so much
better than to loiter around when she had given him an order as his
Guardian—Sharni had spent doing some form of acrobatics. The slender blonde
witch bent over double and wriggled her legs over her bound hands so they were
now in front of her body.