by Keri Arthur
Except time was the one thing we didn’t have a lot of. Not tonight, anyway.
As his phone began to buzz, he groaned softly and then said, “Never have I cursed the council and their damn meetings as much as I am right now.”
His breath teased my lips and sent a shiver of delight down my spine. “You’re not alone there—especially given I’ve been waiting weeks for a proper kiss.”
He chuckled softly and brushed his lips across mine a final time before he pushed back. His blue eyes glimmered with the same sort of heat that pulsed through me.
“Next time, just ask. Or, better yet, just do. More than happy for a woman to take the lead.”
“Sound advice I’ll definitely follow if I feel things are progressing a little slowly.” I took a deep breath in an effort to calm my racing pulse, but it was filled with the musky, smoky scent of him, and really didn’t help.
“So, tomorrow—what time?”
He grimaced. “My shift is supposed to start at eleven, but I’ll ring Duke and see if he can swap. That’ll give us a couple of hours to check both locations.”
“Eleven is an odd time to start, isn’t it?”
“We generally stagger starting times so that there’s someone manning the station until fairly late.” He silenced the reminder chime on his phone. “It’s only when we’ve a few people either off sick or on holidays that the night shift ends earlier, but in those cases, I’m generally on call.”
“Which kind of explains why you were in sweats but carrying a gun when we first met.”
He reached out and lightly tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “A day I will never forget, for many various reasons.”
Though I wanted nothing more than to lean into his touch, I resisted. I didn’t want to be the reason for him being late—especially given the council’s edict of no witches on the reservation. We might already be walking a tightrope when it came to remaining in Castle Rock. I didn’t need to be giving them additional reasons—however inconsequential—to boot us out.
Unease rose at that thought, and I wasn’t sure if its cause was pessimism, or my hit-and-miss precognition skills coming to life.
“Well,” I said, keeping my tone light, “it isn’t every day you discover the body of a teenager who’d been seduced onto the dark path by a vampire capable of blood magic.”
“That is something of an understatement.” He pushed to his feet and then caught my hand and tugged me up. “I enjoyed tonight, even if our time was severely restricted.”
“Me too.” I rose on my toes and dropped a quick kiss on his lips. And fought the desire to do more. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Indeed.” His expression was a mix of amusement and frustration. “I’ll be here at ten thirty.”
“I look forward to it.”
He hesitated, then turned around and headed for the stairs. I followed him down to the front door and held it open as he stepped through. The cool night air caressed my skin, but it didn’t do much to ease the inner heat.
Lights flashed amber as he pressed the truck’s remote, and then he glanced back at me. “I’d normally kiss you good night, but I don’t think that would be wise. The council does not appreciate tardiness.”
“Then you’d better get your butt into gear, instead of lingering on the sidewalk.”
“Indeed I must,” he said, and then did precisely what he’d said he shouldn’t, and kissed me again.
Briefly, but urgently.
Then, with another groan, he broke away and stalked over to his truck. I stayed where I was, and watched until he was well out of sight.
And knew I could get into very big trouble if I didn’t watch myself—and my emotions—around him. I’d fallen for the wrong type of man once before, and I really didn’t want to go through that sort of heartache again. It wasn’t as if my heart didn’t have ample enough warning about the foolishness of such a leap; he was a werewolf, after all, and they rarely got emotionally involved with anyone other than another werewolf. His sister had been a rare exception, and even then, her marriage to Gabe had only been granted as a dying wish. As the eldest in his family—and therefore heir to his father’s position—Aiden wasn’t likely to go against pack rules, even when it came to matters of the heart.
Besides, not only was I a witch, but a lying one at that. He could only ever be a good time, not a long time, no matter what sparks might fly between us.
Of course, there was one other point I needed to remember—the fact that I was getting way, way ahead of myself with these sort of thoughts. It wasn’t as if we’d done anything more than kiss, for heaven’s sake.
I closed the door and headed back upstairs. After cleaning up our cups and putting the leftover cake back in its container, I wrote a note for Belle, letting her know about the visit to both the clearing where Aiden’s sister had died and to the wellspring, and asking if she’d mind coming along. Then I went to bed.
And if my dreams were haunted by the specter of a blue-eyed werewolf, I certainly didn’t remember it.
“So, what happened last night?” Belle leaned against the countertop and gave me a somewhat speculative look. “Your thoughts are all sorts of happy.”
“I don’t always wake up grumpy, you know.”
Amusement twitched her lips. “Granted, but this is more than just an I-had-a-great-night’s-sleep happy.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Maybe I had a great night’s sleep filled with good dreams rather than ominous ones for a change.”
She snorted. “The delaying tactics won’t work. Give, woman, or I shall ferret.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t already.”
“Hey, I only ever mine thoughts when absolutely necessary.” She paused. “Or in cases like your ranger, when it’s hard to know what the man is thinking from his expression or body language.”
I gave her a long look. “You haven’t read his mind—have you?”
She merely grinned. “You answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”
Which was an echo of what I’d said to Aiden last night, and one that had my eyes narrowing. Her grin grew.
“You’re a tart,” I said.
“And you love me. So give, or I will dig deeper.”
I rolled my eyes. “Aiden came here for coffee last night. Trust me, you probably got a whole lot more action than I did.”
“Zak and I just cuddled and watched a movie.” Her smile flashed again. “Shocking, I know.”
“What, have you worn the poor man out already?”
“Nope. I just didn’t feel in the mood last night.”
“I do hope you’re not coming down with something.” I reached across the counter and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. “No temperature—”
She laughed and slapped my hand away. “Now who’s the tart? Just give with the information, woman, because something obviously did go down between the two of you.”
I snapped the lids on the three travel mugs and handed one to her. “We kissed. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“And?”
“And that’s it.” I picked up the other two mugs and walked around the counter.
“So how was it? On the scale of okay to oh-hell-yeah, where did it fall?” She picked up the backpack at her feet, swung it over her left shoulder, and fell into step beside me as I walked toward the door.
I gave her the look—the one that told her to mind her own business. She only grinned at me.
Meaning she’d keep on asking until I answered. I rolled my eyes and said, “The latter. The man can kiss.”
“And you’re going out again when?”
“Today. In a few minutes, in fact.”
“Idiot.” She nudged me as we walked toward the door, sending me staggering sideways. “I meant on a date.”
I shrugged. “We didn’t really get around to discussing that.”
“Seriously? Why not?”
“Because he had to run off to a council meeting.”
“That’s rather inconsiderate timing by the council.”
“I agree.” I opened the door and waved her through. “And I have a rather weird feeling it might have had something to do with us, even though he said he merely had to update them on the murder.”
She glanced at me sharply. “Why would they be discussing us?”
“Because we’re witches on a reservation that’s banned witches, remember?”
I locked the door and shoved the keys back into my pocket. The wind stirred around me, its touch biting, and the sky was gray. I shivered and contemplated going back for my coat, but decided unlocking the door and racing upstairs was too much effort.
No doubt I’d regret that laziness when I was freezing my butt off in the forest.
“Yeah, but as far as anyone is concerned, we’re only capable of minor magic, and we advised the council about our intent to make charms before we opened the café.” Belle paused and frowned. “You don’t think Aiden’s said something to them, do you? He's the only one who really knows we’re capable of far more.”
I shook my head. “No, but it’s likely the RWA might have. They would have mentioned us in any report they made.”
“But why would they submit a report to the council? They’re only answerable to the witch High Council and the government.”
“Yes, but we’re on a semiautonomous reservation, and I’d imagine there’d be a rule that states any report made by outside sources on events that happen within the reservation has to be copied to the council.”
“Possibly.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure we really need the council finding out about us so soon. Not when we’ve had so little time to prove we’re worthwhile additions to Castle Rock.”
“That’s precisely what I’m worried about.”
Her expression became even more concerned. “Normal type worried, or I’ve had a premonition and this is definitely going to happen type worry?”
I hesitated. “Neither. It’s just another of those niggles.”
“Like the one that says your parents are going to find us?”
I nodded. “Which means it may be based on nothing more than fear.”
“Hopefully, because I’m getting rather attached to this place, and I don’t really want to leave it.”
I glanced past her as Aiden’s truck came around the corner and walked toward the curb. “I’ve answered your question, so time for you to answer mine.”
“Yes, I did,” she said. “But it was only a light run through his thoughts. Nothing too in-depth.”
I frowned at her. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning I wanted to know if he was coming to the café for the brownies or the woman.”
“He answered that question last night.”
“But was he honest? Because that man is seriously in lust with our brownies.”
I laughed and nudged her, returning the favor and sending her staggering. “You’re an idiot.”
“Well okay, he’s seriously in lust with you, too, but it’s a close-run thing.”
My grin grew, but I didn’t reply as Aiden stopped in front of us and then leaned across and opened the door.
“Morning, ladies.” He sounded far too cheerful for someone who probably hadn’t had that much sleep—although the tiredness had at least left his eyes.
We both climbed into the front of the truck. I handed him the two travel mugs, did up my seat belt, and then retrieved my drink. My fingers brushed his, the brief contact sending warmth tingling through me.
“Were you held up long with the council last night?” I asked.
“Only for just over an hour, thankfully.” He glanced past me. “Belle, do you want to buckle up?”
“Getting there, Ranger.” She dumped the backpack at her feet and then handed me her mug. “How did they react to the possibility of a soul eater being on the reservation?”
“They didn’t, because I haven’t told them.” He pulled away from the curb and continued up Mostyn Street. “Until we’ve ruled out all other possibilities, I’m not going to.”
I handed Belle’s mug back and said, with just a touch of annoyance in my voice, “Then how did you explain the two bodies?”
He shrugged, a small movement that nevertheless had his shoulders brushing mine. “Murder suicide.”
Belle snorted. “Oh, how I wish that was true.”
“Me too.” His voice was flat. “Because, seriously? I don’t want to even contemplate the possibility of soul eaters. I mean, how do you even stop something like that?”
A smile twitched my lips, despite the lingering annoyance. “Very carefully, I’d imagine.”
His quick grin momentarily lifted the gloom of the day. “And from as far a distance as possible, no doubt.”
“Indeed.”
He turned left into Barker Street and accelerated away from the city center. “If no obvious cause of death can be found in either Aron’s or Marlinda’s tox results, I’ll call in the RWA.” He hesitated. “Will they have the skills to deal with a soul eater?”
“Yes,” Belle said, before I could. “Unlike us, they’re fully trained. Plus they have full and immediate access to the council if necessary.”
“Given the somewhat dodgy phone reception in some parts of the reservation, I wouldn’t count on immediacy unless we’re talking about a landline.”
I half smiled. “RWA witches don’t really need phones. Not to contact each other, anyway.”
“They only use phones so as to not scare regular people,” Belle added.
He swung onto the Pyrenees Highway and then gave us a narrow-eyed look. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”
“Totally serious,” Belle said cheerfully.
“Does that mean all full witches are telepathic?”
Belle reached past me and patted his knee. “Don’t worry, Ranger. As I’ve already said, we realized long ago that the thoughts of most men are not worth the trouble of checking.”
His expression was a weird mix of uncertainty, disbelief, and concern, and I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
“No, most witches aren’t telepathic. But there are spells that can instantly deliver a message from one place to another, be it verbal or written.”
“That’s a relief. One person messing about in my thoughts is more than enough, thank you very much.”
Belle grinned. “I promise I’ve done nothing more than check which you like more—our brownies or my crimson-haired friend here.”
“I’ve already told her it’s the brownies, but only by a smidge.”
I laughed again, and took a sip of coffee. “So where exactly are we going?”
The amusement left his expression, leaving me mentally kicking myself. “The Marin pack’s territory is the St. Erth forests, which basically rings Maldoon. The clearing in which we found Kate lies at the source of one of Manton’s Gully creek tributary feeds.”
Which didn’t tell me a whole lot given I didn’t know the Maldoon area at all. “Will there be much walking involved?”
“Yes.” He glanced down at our feet. “But you’re both wearing sensible shoes, so you’ll cope.”
“Hey, you’ve witnessed the level of my fitness when it comes to walking, so don’t be so certain of that.”
Bet he was too busy witnessing said action from behind and not really paying too much attention to anything else, Belle cut in, and then grunted when I elbowed her. Hard.
“Yes,” he said, with an amused glance our way. “Which is why I’ve brought along a backpack with water and energy bars. It’s a bit of an uphill hike.”
“Great.” Not.
Silence fell as we continued on up the highway, but in little more than twenty minutes, we were approaching Maldoon. Aiden turned off onto a gravel road before we got to the township, and the small suburban houses gradually gave way to acreage. Eventually he turned right onto a tiny dirt road and drove up into the scrub-covered hills until we came to a dead end. I frowned as Aiden sto
pped. The path beyond seemed little more than a damned goat track.
Goats and werewolves would certainly be the only ones comfortable using it, Belle grumbled.
She grabbed our backpack, and then opened the door and climbed out. The wind that whipped past her was icy, and I shivered. I really should have brought my coat.
“If you’re cold, there’s a couple of spare coats in the back seat,” Aiden immediately said. “But to be honest, you’ll probably only be wearing it for ten minutes or so given the climb.”
“I’ll grab it anyway, just in case it rains.” I undid the seat belt then twisted around and spotted the two lightweight green wind jackets. “Belle, do you want one?”
She hesitated and glanced upward. “Yeah. That’s sky is not looking promising.”
“It’s not supposed to rain until this afternoon, so we should be right,” Aiden said.
He climbed out and then held out a hand to help me. His touch lingered perhaps a little longer than necessary and it had both anticipation and frustration stirring. I really, really hoped fate didn’t conspire to interrupt any more of our dates, because one kiss and brief touches were never going to be enough.
A sentiment he shared if the flare of desire in his eyes was anything to go by.
We put on the coats while he grabbed his pack and slung it over his back. “This way, ladies.”
We followed him around the dead-end barrier, then up the goat track. It was as rough as it looked and the incline grew steadily steeper, until my legs started to burn and my breath was little more than short, sharp pants for air. I tugged off the coat and tied it around my waist, and, a few minutes later, did the same with my sweater. Thankfully, I was wearing a tank top underneath—though I’m not entirely sure I wouldn’t have done the same if I’d only been wearing a bra.
If the rasping coming from behind me was anything to go by, Belle wasn’t faring much better, despite being far fitter than me.