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  “Yeah, make believe like witches and werewolves. You’re full of shit.” Simon shrugged. “You won’t be the only person on Earth who can key into her magick. Eventually someone else will find her and then she’ll be his and no longer attracted to you. But shit, Dominic, why would you want that? You have this beautiful, magickal thing; why not accept it like a gift? I know you like to say you don’t believe in fate, but I do. Sometimes you just have to let go of cynicism and let yourself believe in something.”

  Dominic stirred his coffee as he thought that outcome would be totally unsatisfactory. The idea of her feeling the way they had the night before with anyone else was untenable. “No matter what bond shit there is or isn’t, I’m not walking away from Meriel. I just don’t want to play house with her ten minutes after I met her either.”

  “Ten minutes? She was asking you to marry her and live in her house and have babies last night?”

  “Oh fuck you, Simon, you smug asshole. You know she didn’t and you know what I mean.”

  “No, I really don’t know what you mean. Either you want her or you don’t. Which is it? Also, chemistry is always a player between two people. She has pheromones and you have them. Some pheromones don’t appeal to some people and some do. That’s a fact. So right there you’ve got the basics of what you have with Meriel. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that you cannot be a witch and still think things like bond-mates aren’t real. Says who? Humans? You’re not human and you should just admit it to yourself.

  “You’re running from it because it has clan written all over it. I say fuck that. Her foremothers built Clan Owen into a powerhouse of a clan. Nothing happens in the magickal world without their say or input. That’s power and that’s hot. She is special, Dom. Unique. Powerful and absolutely mouthwatering.”

  Dominic groaned and scratched his beard. “I’m not denying her appeal as a woman.” He paused. “Or as a witch. Yes, yes, she’s powerful and I can’t lie and say I don’t find that very alluring. She and I have something, I admit it. But this is sudden and this is big. I don’t know if I want to be sucked into the world of these clans. All those rules and politics. She’s not just an ordinary witch. There’s no halfway with her. I’ve spent my life deliberately not engaging with them.”

  Simon growled as he polished off his eggs. “You want some skeeze who’ll jump on your cock five minutes after you give her a free drink? Huh? ‘Cause you have that already and I don’t see you any happier than before. But the way you are since last night? Well, that’s interesting.”

  “I don’t have time for interesting.”

  “Boo-fucking-hoo. When did you become such a whiner? This is sudden? Fuck yeah. Totally sudden and life altering. My dad has a thing about those moments. Revelatory thinking. You think all this life-altering stuff happens on a schedule?”

  “Doesn’t mean I have to lose my mind over it.”

  “You told me she advised you to think on it and to call her if you wanted something with her. How is that losing your mind? You’re a witch. You can pretend you aren’t when it suits you, but I hasten to remind you that you don’t mind being a witch when you have to set wards or use spellwork.

  You can’t have it both ways. Own who you are and stop whining about what you aren’t. It’s not going to change either way. It’s just a waste of time to deny the importance of this all because you’re willing to deliberately lie to yourself rather than admit freaky shit happens sometimes in the world we live in. Be grateful and grab it tight and don’t fret so damned much.”

  “Why are you acting like Dr. Phil all the sudden?”

  “Because you’re going to turn your back on something for a dumb reason and someone needs to call you on it.”

  “I’m not turning my back on anything. I’m going to call her later and ask her to dinner as it happens. Nothing wrong with wanting to get to know her.”

  Simon’s sigh and raised brow said he thought otherwise, but he held his tongue.

  “What?”

  “Nothing at all. I just don’t want you to fuck this up because you were raised to be all suspicious of clans and of what you are. You’re full-council, even I know what that means.”

  Dominic sighed. The hell of it was, he wasn’t sure he himself knew.

  MERIEL let out the breath she’d been holding all day when she saw his number pop up on her screen.

  “Meriel Owen,” she answered, sending a quick lock spell so her mother wouldn’t barge in on the call.

  “It’s Dominic.”

  He paused and she paused too, waiting to see what he’d do.

  “So are you free tonight? For dinner?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”

  Another pause. She really should help him, but he needed to do it. Needed to be in control and she understood it and let him be, even if he hadn’t realized that’s what he needed just yet.

  “And then after, I’d like to bring you to Heart of Darkness. You know … we have dinner and come over here for drinks.”

  And it would give her a chance to know him better, for him to show her what was important to him. That appealed to her.

  “All right. Do you have a pen?” She gave him her address and said she’d see him at eight.

  After she hung up she had to dig through her desk, remembering the box of chocolate macadamia nut candies someone had brought back from a recent trip to Hawaii. Candy was totally necessary, but if she headed to the vending machines, it took her right past her mother’s office and that was not what she wanted.

  Until they performed the ascension spell, she wouldn’t achieve full-council status. Such a thing would be impossible to hide. She was doubly glad they hadn’t had sex the night before because her mother would have noticed the change in her energy. Hell, even right then Meriel knew her magick had ripened, thickened, rising within her and ready to join with someone else’s.

  After she’d eaten the fourth piece of candy, two after she’d told herself, “Only one more,” she sat back and allowed herself a deep breath. He called. She smiled.

  Chapter 8

  SHE tried not to be annoyed when her phone rang as she was still goopy with lotion. If it was Dominic calling to cancel, she was so going to hunt him down.

  But it was 401. Rodas Industries.

  “Meriel Owen.” She hoped she sounded commanding enough. A little difficult when standing naked and slicked up with lotion.

  “Ms. Owen, my name is Arel. Gage would like us to add him into a three-way call. Would that be all right with you?”

  “Yes, go on. Give me a moment, please.” She put the phone down and grabbed a robe, also picking up her glasses and a notepad as she got settled in at the nearby table.

  “I’m back.”

  “Sorry to bug you on a Friday night, but when I spoke with Arel I knew you’d want to hear this.”

  She sighed. “Comes with the job. What’s up?”

  It was Arel who spoke. “Had some excitement last evening on my side of the country. We got a call from a witch up in Boston, asking for help against some mages who’d been stalking two sisters, also witches. As a result of this call, we now have a few mages in our custody.”

  Unease slithered through her. “Are the witches all right? The sisters?”

  “Yes. They’re both fine. Took some hits. One was partially drained. She turned the draining spell around, drained the mage. Caught him off guard, but it was a great response. Still, she spent several hours puking it all out as her body had to reject all that wrong energy. Spent time with her today. She’s also a shifter so it didn’t hit her as hard as it would have otherwise.”

  She had no idea there were such a thing as witch shifters. Fascinating. “I’d like to meet her, if possible. It sounds like she’s got some skills we could use.”

  “I explained to Arel about your desire to work with other witches to share knowledge and spellcraft,” Gage said.

  “I’ve told Kendra, that’s the witch I’m referring to, about thi
s and she’s enthusiastic to meet you. Since it’s all right with you, I’ll make an introduction later. You should know them and they you.”

  She made a quick note to herself about that.

  “All right. Thank you. Did she terminate the mage she turned the spell back on?”

  “No. But she could have. Scared him enough to be forthcoming about what they were all up to though.”

  “Good to know. By in custody do you mean still drawing breath?”

  “For now.”

  “As it should be.”

  Gage laughed in the background. “I told you.”

  “I approve of bloodthirstiness in this time and place. There are dark things on the horizon.” Arel cleared his throat. “We’ve been watching some mages back here who’d been on the move, settling in, stalking witches, draining them and moving on.”

  This was what she’d been worried about.

  “They’re more organized than we’d assumed. And after some rigorous questioning, I can tell you they’ve been working with anti-Other hate groups to target witches ripe for the draining. Not only that, but working with disgruntled paranormals.”

  That stopped her pen. “What? How?”

  “The mages had been working with a shifter, a cat. The brother-in-law of the witches attacked last night. He led them straight into the heart of their community. Set the witches up.”

  “Why? I don’t understand this. Why would someone do that?”

  “That cats handled that part, so all I know is what I’ve been told. This was a third brother, never going to run the jamboree. But also a little loopy and got caught up in the demon-possessed line the hate groups had been farming out.”

  She sighed heavily. “So we can assume they know things about us? Things that could hurt?”

  “One of the collaborators was a cat shifter. It’s safe to assume they understand now that shifters have their own kind of magickal energy,” Gage broke in.

  She chewed her lip. Her mother should know of this. At the same time, Meriel had been appointed to this exact position and her mother wouldn’t really want to hear about any of this until they had more specifics. Oh and she didn’t want to face her mother just yet.

  “Gage, I want you and Nell to work on this when she gets back. My mother will need to be briefed.” Responsible and yet still kept her out of her mother’s attention for a while longer. “What do we know about them, Arel? Do they pick witches they knew? Witches who are most vulnerable?”

  “It appears to be a little of both. But … it’s only a matter of time before they figure out the more powerful the witch, the sweeter the reward. Only a matter of time before some turned witch joins them and shares that.”

  Stuck witches were bad enough. A turned witch was one who’d damaged so much of her connection with her inherent magicks she no longer had access to them. No longer a witch, not quite a mage, a turned witch was most dangerous. Still hungry for the pleasure of the initial magickal hit but cut off from a huge part of one’s existence made them all totally crazy.

  “What are they doing with the energy they steal? Just using it themselves? Providing the stolen magic to stuck witches? How do these anti-Other groups feel about that?”

  “I’m under the impression it has not gone far enough to be organized in anything more than a way for the mages to get the power themselves to feed their addiction. But my fear, and my belief, is that they will get more organized. This is drug dealing and manufacturing on a pretty intense scale.”

  “All right. Can we do anything to help?”

  “At the moment, we’ve got it handled.”

  “But? We need some sort of — I don’t know — a conference? Something so we can share intel.”

  “I’m going to leave that to you and Sadira. I have no patience for the bullshit politics.”

  She laughed, but there wasn’t a whole lot of mirth there. She’d have to go to the council to get permission for such a conference. And she would. It had to be done. But she wanted all the information she could get first. This was a break with how things were done and she knew she had a big job ahead of her.

  “Gage, keep open communication between you and Arel. Brief Nell when she returns. I’m going to suggest you might just check in with some of the other hunters as well. This is inter-clan so it’s acceptable.”

  “If they start targeting the most powerful witches, you’re going to be right in the crosshairs. A big target on your back.” Arel’s comments were correct, but they meant she had to think about something she’d been trying to ignore.

  “Yes. I suppose. Good thing being more powerful also means I can kick some ass if I have to.”

  Gage groaned. “Let’s just keep an eye out. Be extra cautious.”

  “Of course.”

  They hung up and she went back to getting ready. She sure as hell wasn’t going to cancel her date. She could be sad for what the future might hold, but she wasn’t going to let these mages steal another moment of her joy that day. Not if she could help it.

  DESPITE how lovely she looked when she answered his knock, it was clear something was wrong.

  Alarmed, he moved her into the apartment and closed the door at his back. “Is everything all right?” He looked around for a threat, ready to do harm if he had to.

  “No. Not like you think. I just had a disturbing phone call. Work related. It’s all right. Come in.”

  He stopped her, his palm at her elbow. “I don’t like shadows in your eyes.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek and she leaned into his touch. It wasn’t a thought before she was in his arms.

  “I do feel better now,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. He leaned back a little to look into her face. “Really. It was work stuff. I can’t do anything about it at this point.”

  He brushed his lips over hers, first as comfort. She was distressed; he wanted to make her better. Then for the pure unadulterated pleasure of her taste. Of the way she felt against him, so totally right in his arms.

  She opened to him, tasting like home when his tongue danced its way across hers.

  That need only she ignited with such force rolled through him. Deftly, he banded her waist and reversed their positions, backing her into a nearby wall.

  The noise she made when he squeezed her luscious ass dug into him with sharp claws. A shiver raced up his arms at the way she responded to him so openly and eagerly.

  She arched, stretching to expose her throat to him as he left the sweetness of her mouth and set about kissing across her jawline and over to the hollow beneath her ear.

  There was nothing else in the universe but her skin against his lips. The sweet curve of her ass in his hands, the cool, soft material of her dress against his wrists.

  Slowly, he used his fingertips to slide the dress upward until he met bare skin and she groaned and then laughed. He tickled the same spot, just below the edge of her panties, where her thigh met the first rise of her butt cheek. She squirmed and he couldn’t help but smile.

  “Your ass is ticklish?” He stepped away or he’d be right back on her.

  “Technically, it’s that little place on my thigh, just beneath my butt.” She tried to look stern and failed.

  “We can cancel dinner if you like. We can stay here and talk.”

  “If I stay here alone with you for too very long, I’m going to totally let you get to at least third base and all my resolve to get to know you first will be up in smoke.”

  “Fine. Fine. All I’m saying is that third base would be a lovely time. I give good third base.”

  She moved her hair aside when he put her wrap on her shoulders. “I bet you do.”

  Serious after he sent her a leer, he took her shoulders to hold her in place. “It’s okay then? To take you out? Is there something immediate? Are you being threatened somehow?”

  “I have no reason to think there’s a problem here. The call I got was from Rhode Island.” But he had to admit he liked the way her face looked just then. Soft. A little befudd
led pleasure.

  “All right then. You will tell me about why you looked so upset when I arrived. But I’ll take pity on you and let you tell me after we’ve had a drink and some food.”

  She snorted at his imperious tone, but inside there was warmth at the way he made her feel. Safe and protected. Sure, she knew Gage would protect her. Or Nell. Or frankly she was totally capable of protecting her own self. Of all the things in her life, Meriel trusted her magickal ability without question. But it was nice to have this big, slightly scary man on her side, totally willing to protect her because he wanted to.

  She smiled and locked the door once they’d reached the hallway.

  “How was your day?” she asked to his apparent surprise. “I mean, what does a nightclub owner do during the daylight hours? I always imagined you’d sleep until afternoon in an apartment that would look remarkably like yours actually does.”

  He laughed. “And what is that then? What my apartment looks like?”

  “Sleek and sexy. You have books. I notice these things. The furnishings were very high quality, well made. A media wall that gave me goose bumps. The apartment of a man who plays all night and sleeps all day.” She ducked her head, blushing.

  “Bear with me because I can tell you’re wondering why I’m blathering and being sort of insulting and that’s not what I mean. What I meant was I imagine you’d all be layabouts with naked models everywhere, but I see what you’ve built in that club and I can’t imagine you sleep too very late or you’d never be able to handle it all.”

  “Not offended. Flattered in fact, so thank you. I had a late breakfast with Simon. Checked on liquor orders. Looked over a schedule for some DJs who’ll be guesting in the next few months. Signed some payroll. Thought about you. A lot.”

  He kept a hand at the small of her back. The heat of him seemed to burn against her skin through the material of her dress. He smelled good enough without any cologne, but just then he had a hint of something on.