“Sorry, Livvie,” Kael said quietly, as if he could read my thoughts. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
I gave him a smile to let him know I was fine, then the door to his boss’s office opened. A woman—Mr. Anderson’s secretary, no doubt—bustled out. On the way she informed Kael he could go in.
Kael made a vain attempt to fix his hair by combing his fingers through it before he went to the office, but it was no use. It stuck out in odd directions, and there was no way he was able to look presentable after spending days in the African wilderness fighting demons and confronting hostile lion shifters. The door shut behind him, and I was left alone in the silence.
I glanced out the window at my shoulder. It was late evening, so there wasn’t much to see except the lights of the city. It was strange being in such a populated area again. I found myself missing home. I wanted my study, my books, my bed. When would I be able to return?
An opening door on the left side of the room drew my attention, and I looked over, then smiled.
“Aidan.” I gave a little wave.
The burly bear shifter grinned back and walked over. “Hey, there. Been a little while. Have fun on your adventures?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun, but it was definitely interesting.”
The bear shifter sank into a chair across from me. His hair was damp with sweat and his cheeks were a bit flushed.
“Been at the gym?” I asked.
“Aren’t I always?” For such a scary looking guy, he sure was jovial. I hardly ever saw him without a smile. We fell silent for a moment, and Aidan watched me. Then, his gaze narrowed slightly. “You seem different.”
“Different? How?”
He leaned forward, and I wanted to shrink back from his scrutiny. “What happened while you were away?”
“I don’t really think I should say anything until I speak to your boss, or at least get permission.”
Aidan waved a hand. “Not about your assignment. What happened between you and Kael?”
Between me and Kael?
How could Aidan possibly know there had been a shift in mine and Kael’s relationship just by looking at me?
“That isn’t your business.” I hadn’t meant to snap, but I was on edge, and tired.
He held his hands up in surrender. “No need to be so tense.” He laughed, but the corners of his eyes were crinkled, and something about his expression seemed concerned. My stomach tightened in response.
Why would he care about the kind of relationship I had with Kael? Before I could ask him, the door across from me opened, and Kael poked out his head.
“Olivia, could you come in here, please?”
I got to my feet and adjusted my bag. “See you later, Aidan.”
The bear shifter winked at me. “Good luck.”
The office was spacious, thought it felt a bit smaller with the blinds shut, blocking the view of the cityscape below. Kael stood in front of a desk on the right, so I started to move toward him. I faltered when he waved me away with a finger and a slight shake of his head. I frowned but kept my distance, opting instead to hover farther on the left.
Mr. Anderson was bent over a paper, but even his stooped position didn’t hide his physique. His black slacks and gray, buttoned shirt covered lean muscle. He wasn’t tall, but when he looked up, his pale gaze made no secret he was a man to be obeyed.
He gave me a polite smile. “Olivia, nice to see you again.” I had only met the alpha wolf once before, after my first encounter with Vehrin. He was handsome with his salt-and-pepper hair and nice build, if a bit reserved and rigid for my taste.
“Nice to you again, too, Mr. Anderson.”
He waved a hand. “You can call me Mason.”
Kael let out an indignant sound. “Even I don’t get to call you Mason, and I’ve known you for years.”
Mason cut a sharp gaze at Kael. “You work for me, she does not.”
My partner fell silent. Mason was obviously not in the mood for light-hearted conversation.
The head of the agency returned his attention to me. “I already have Kael’s report on the events, but I would like to hear your side of the story as well.”
I didn’t glance at Kael as I recounted our ventures. I stuck mostly to the truth, though I did leave out the part where I had killed members of the shifter pride. Kael and Bibi may have been understanding, but Mason was a shifter as well, and I wasn’t entirely sure how he would react to the news. Besides, speaking of it out loud would only bring back guilt to churn in my stomach like acid. I was never going to get over the feeling of being a murderer.
When I was finished, Mason nodded. “Same story as Kael.”
Something had been bugging me since right before our departure from Africa. Kael had said Mason and PITO would not let me go so easily. I’d felt shackled since the moment we had entered the building.
“May I leave?” I asked.
Mason leaned back in his leather chair. “Where to?”
“I’d like to go home.”
Kael suddenly went very still across from me, and a quick glance his way showed his Adam’s apple bob in a sudden swallow.
The room was silent for a stretch before Mason spoke. “I’m afraid we will need you to stay a while longer.”
I crossed my arms. “I can’t just stay here. I have a job to get back to.” It was a lie. Both Kael and I knew I couldn’t return to the university for some time, not until Vehrin was stopped.
“You are safer here, within the proximity of PITO and our protection.”
Kael had been right. They weren’t going to just let me go. I hadn’t exactly been planning on leaving anyway, but knowing I couldn’t, even if I wanted to, unsettled me.
“I can’t stay here forever. I don’t have the money to afford a hotel room indefinitely.”
Mason stood and rounded the desk. “Of course not. A hotel room wouldn’t be appropriate now. We have arranged for you to have a house for the duration of your stay.”
Somehow that seemed worse.
He held out a piece of paper with a picture of a little Cape Cod with blue shutters. I squinted at the address. It was only a few blocks away.
“You...you bought me a house?”
“Rented,” Mason corrected. “This way you’ll be safe nearby, but more comfortable than in the hotel.”
More comfortable? Or easier to keep track of?
I supposed I should have thanked him, but I was furious. This was a whole new level of control. “Is this really for my safety, or for yours?” After all, I was the reincarnation of a sorceress, someone who had once been a powerful equal to the dark mage himself. Maybe they wanted me close to make sure I didn’t cause problems.
Mason narrowed his gaze a fraction. “For yours, of course.” He turned to Kael. “You’ve both had a long trip. Go get some rest.”
Kael and I turned at the dismissal. Mason didn’t say anything else to me as I left the office, but I could feel his gaze on my back.
I’d spent weeks being hunted, only to end up trapped after all.
A few nights later, I was still grumbling about the situation as I pulled out a tub of chocolate ice cream from the freezer. It was a nice house, if a bit plain and void of the character my own house held.
I skipped a bowl and instead just grabbed a spoon before heading to the living room. I settled on the couch, then turned on the T.V. to find something to watch while I waited for Kael. He’d been at PITO headquarters all day but had promised to spend some time with me.
I hadn’t forgotten the odd connection I now held with him, and he told me tonight we could finally have the talk he’d been saying we’d have. I’d asked him why he’d wanted me to keep my distance in Mason’s office, but he never did give me a straight answer. He’d merely mumbled something about Mason being an alpha.
What did that have to do with anything?
Kael was acting weird. I’d decided to go to the gym yesterday, much to Aidan’s delight, and a guy had accide
ntally bumped into me. Kael had jumped all over him until Aidan told him to back off. The bear shifter had looked between us with a knowing, and disapproving, glance.
I huffed out a sigh and dug into my ice cream. Men. Why did they have to be so complicated?
I peered out the window across the room. It was already dark, and a sensation prickled across me that I was being watched. It always did when I was in this house, and often times while I was out of it. No doubt Mason had agents trailing me “for my protection.”
A sudden knock at the door made me jump. I shook my head with a laugh. I was ridiculous. I opened the door, expecting Kael, though he never knocked, and instead I stopped short.
“Ren?”
The fae man was standing in my doorway in a blue suit that brought out his teal eyes. His lips lifted in a charming smile as he held a bouquet of red roses toward me.
“Olivia, as beautiful as ever.”
I very much doubted that. I glanced down at my yoga pants and T-shirt outfit. “Right,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
Ren swept past me before I could offer to let him inside. “Is that how you always treat your dates?”
I shut the door with a snap. “Excuse me? Date?”
The fae set down the roses. “You owe me a date, remember?”
“Yeah, but now?” I gestured around as if to prove this wasn’t the best time.
“When you get to be my age, darling, you realize there is no time like the present.”
There would be no getting him out of the house, so I decided I may as well sit down and enjoy my ice cream. “I’m already eating.”
Ren sat beside me on the couch, much closer than I would have liked. “It’s all right. I haven’t had my dessert, yet.” His voice brushed against my ear, but I just rolled my eyes.
There were more dangerous things about Renathe than his flirting. Like his poor choice in allies, for example. “You know, those fae you had tailing me in Africa nearly let me die on more than one occasion. Apparently, I was quite the entertainment for them.”
When Ren didn’t respond, I turned to look at him. He was staring at me strangely, his gaze narrowed like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
“What?” I asked.
Renathe pressed a finger to my lips. Then, his eyes widened. A large grin spread across his face. “Well, well. Looks like you had more fun in Africa than I first thought.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, the door opened and Kael walked in. He stopped when he saw Ren beside me on the couch. A deep growl rumbled through his chest.
Ren stood and distanced himself a few feet away. “Apologies, Kael. I assure you I was not touching your mate.”
I’d had about enough of people saying that! I bolted to my feet. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”
No one said anything, but Ren looked between Kael and myself several times. Then, a devilish smirk touched his lips.
“She doesn’t know?”
Kael took a step toward Ren with his fists curled. “Get out.”
Ren put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “Oh, no, I certainly cannot accommodate that request. This is too much fun.”
I finally abandoned my ice cream, setting it on the coffee table. “What’s going on?”
My partner was doing nothing but glowering at the fae, so I raised an eyebrow at Ren.
He put a hand on his heart and bowed. “Why, my dear Olivia, congratulations are in order.”
“For what?”
Ren’s eyes practically glittered with mischief as he straightened. “For your mating, of course.”
I scoffed, then looked at Kael for my long overdue explanation We hadn’t slept together. We weren’t even dating, exactly. I waited one heartbeat, two, three. When he didn’t deny Ren’s words, I knew it was true. Of course, it was true. The strange bond between us, how I seemed to know where he was and could sometimes even sense how he felt. But it still didn’t make sense.
I forgot about Renathe and stalked toward Kael. “When? How?”
Kael looked contrite as he stared at his boots. “The battle. You had blood on your hand, and you touched an open wound on me.”
“You mean all someone has to do is exchange blood and they’re mated? Isn’t that something you should have warned me about?”
His head snapped up. “No, blood exchange isn’t all it takes. There has to be a mutual feeling of…of affection.”
Had this been the reason Aidan had been watching us strangely, why Kael hadn’t wanted me too close in Mason’s office? He didn’t want them to know?
Didn’t want me to know?
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kael took a step closer and lifted his hand like he wanted to touch me, but he dropped it back down. “I came to tell you tonight. I’ve been wanting to tell you, Livvie, but I wasn’t sure how you would react.”
“I think what he means,” Renathe said, “is he didn’t want you to deny the bond.”
We both turned our attention to the fae, who still looked like his favorite soap opera had come on. “If you deny the bond, it won’t stick, and you can go on your merry way without being leashed to a cat for the rest of your life.”
Fury rolled off Kael as he pushed past me to get to Ren. “Get the hell out!”
“Not without my date,” he said.
I groaned inwardly. Why would he say that? Now of all times?
Kael swore and took a hold of Ren by the shoulders, looking ready to toss him through the window. Renathe began making threats I was certain he’d follow through on if Kael didn’t release him, and I just wanted both of them out of my house.
Then, a name caught my attention on the news.
“Shut up!” I shouted. Surprisingly, they both did, and turned toward the breaking newscast.
“…team of archaeologists were found brutally murdered in their hotel room last night. There has yet to be an official statement regarding motive, but it has been released that the relic they had unearthed and were transporting back to the U.S. has been reported missing.”
The rest of the anchor’s words was chased away by a buzzing in my ears as I stared at photos of the murder victims. I knew every single one of them, but my eyes stuck on a picture of Sarah, my friend and colleague.
She was dead.
I shook my head. No. Stepped back. Couldn’t stop trembling. This was wrong. This wasn’t right. But I couldn’t pull my gaze off the unmistakable images on the television.
“Livvie.”
The heartbreakingly soft sound of my name broke through my shock. Kael stepped over and laid his hands on the side of my neck. He didn’t say anything, but the sadness in his eyes let me know he understood what had happened and the loss I felt.
“Vehrin killed her. Whatever that relic was they found, he killed her for it.”
Kael laid his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry.”
“She didn’t deserve to die.”
“No one deserves to die,” Ren said. “Not by his hand.”
All delight and joking had left his face, leaving his expression cold and serious.
I drew back slightly from Kael, and we shared a brief glance. I wasn’t sure how to take the news that I was mated to him, but it wasn’t something I could think about at the moment. My thoughts were consumed with Vehrin.
A trickle of magic licked my fingers as I balled my hands into fists. I looked between Kael and Renathe. “We are going to find out why Vehrin wants that artifact.”
Kael and Ren both nodded, for once agreeing on something.
“We’re going to find the fourth key before he gets his hands on it.”
My next words seemed to ring with ancient approval, and I spoke with a voice which didn’t feel entirely my own, but were uttered by someone deep inside myself.
“And then that dark mage is going to wish I’d never been reborn.”
About the Authors
About Miranda Brock
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From an early age Miranda Brock has always loved fantasy and adventure everything. Since she doesn't live in a world of enchanting powers, mythical beasts, and things unbelievable she has decided to write about them. (Although, if you happen to see a dragon flying around, do tell her.) Born in southern Illinois, where she still resides with her husband and two children, she grew up running through the woods, playing in creeks, and riding horses.
About Rebecca Hamilton
Get a FREE Book from Rebecca Hamilton
New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance for Harlequin, Baste Lübbe, and Evershade. A book addict, registered bone marrow donor, and indian food enthusiast, she often takes to fictional worlds to see what perilous situations her characters will find themselves in next. Represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA, Rebecca has been published internationally, in three languages: English, German, and Hungarian.
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