by Sara M Zerig
Ritt continued out of the building with Chloe at his side. She said nothing, keeping up. He headed straight for the Jeep, taking deep breaths quietly as he went. He opened the passenger door for her, and she didn’t hesitate to get in.
He moved to the driver’s side, taking one last deep breath before joining her. Chloe was completely silent as she watched him. The words came out plainly. “I don’t want you to go.”
Chloe said nothing. Her heart was pounding again, her breathing shallow and rapid. Ritt leaned forward, and she met him halfway. He touched his lips to hers lightly, affording her every opportunity to pull away if she wanted. It was Chloe who deepened the kiss, her hand slipping to the back of his neck. Then, it was Chloe who broke it.
“The Getzelmans are here.”
Ritt looked up as his morning appointment headed into the building. He looked back to Chloe and could see she was already regretting the kiss. He sighed inwardly. “Don’t do that. Don’t overthink this. We can talk in an hour.”
Chloe nodded in an autopilot sort of way and stepped out of the Jeep. They returned to the third floor in an awkward silence. There was plenty to say, but now wasn’t the time. As he escorted the Getzelmans back to his office, it dawned on Ritt that she probably wouldn’t stick around. He closed the door to his office, listening for the telltale signs of Chloe leaving: the desk drawer where she kept her purse opening then closing, the light shuffle of her feet on the carpet to the elevator, the ping of the elevator doors … and she was gone.
Chapter Three
Chloe busied herself with the coffee pot while her roommate flipped through beauty magazines. Although she was dressed for the day in a pale blue blouse and a gray skirt that quit at the knee, Chloe had called herself in late. She told the office manager that she was preparing for finals and would only be in for a few hours after lunch. She knew that Ritt had back-to-back appointments in the afternoon, so she could put some work in and be out before he was finished.
Chloe had debated calling in sick, but then the “voice” chimed in to remind her that she needed three more volunteer hours to get full credit. Chloe had mentally fired back with a full interrogation. Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you sometimes here and sometimes not? Why do you care if Ritt is my “soul mate” or not? There were no answers.
It had been two days since Ritt had kissed her. That kiss had sent molten lava coursing through her veins. She felt Ritt’s desire for her as a raw, intense emotion and even received a fragmented vision. It was mostly colors—gold and bright red with flashes of things she couldn’t quite make out. Wildlife, maybe. Nothing that made any sense.
Ultimately, that bone-melting kiss left Chloe feeling irritated. Irritated with herself for following Ritt into the elevator and irritated with him for kissing her like that, knowing he would be leaving in a few months. Don’t overthink this, he had told her. The short-term thing clearly didn’t bother Ritt at all, and that more than irritated Chloe. That insulted her.
Chloe grabbed two mugs and slammed the cabinet door closed. Nikki’s head snapped up, her auburn, messy bun bobbing with it. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“OK, now that we’ve got the obligatory nothing out of the way …” Nikki folded her arms under her generous chest. “You’ve been all twisted for days. What happened?”
A knock sounded at the front door just in time to save Chloe from owning her poor romantic choices. Nikki’s mouth popped open. “I forgot,” Nikki whispered, “my mom’s coming over.”
“Again?” Chloe whispered back. “I’m not here!”
Chloe made a move toward the stairs, but Nikki grabbed hold of the hem of her shirt. “Don’t leave me!”
The knock came again. The roommates looked to the door then back to each other. Nikki silently implored Chloe to stay with pleading eyes, and Chloe scowled. She crossed to the door and opened it to their landlady.
“Chloe! I’m so glad you’re here.” Charlotte Bradley stepped inside dressed to the nines in a white designer sheath dress and high heels. She leaned toward Chloe for a half-hearted hug before moving on to Nikki for the same display.
Breezing inside, Charlotte made herself comfortable at the granite breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. She visually surveyed the home. Chloe and Nikki kept things clean and maintained. Chloe would have loved to have a pet—a cat or a dog or even a bird—but no pets were allowed. She and Nikki were living here rent-free, so they didn’t complain.
“So, tell me all the latest.”
Chloe poured coffee for the three of them while Nikki launched into meaningless tidbits from school. Nikki didn’t mention the guy she had started seeing a few weeks ago, which was just as well, because Chloe doubted Tad would last long. He was athletic and good-looking but not the brightest bulb in the box, and Nikki would be bored with him soon.
Chloe noted Charlotte’s rapt attention as Nikki spoke. For as long as she’d known them, Charlotte couldn’t be bothered with details about her daughter’s life. But when Nikki moved out two years ago, all that changed. Charlotte became a new-age helicopter mom, always bringing crystals and essential oils and herbs that she insisted would keep them both healthy and safe.
The sudden interest never seemed to quite hit the mark for Nikki, though. Chloe didn’t know if it was because it was all too little too late or because it never felt totally authentic. Maybe they were both being too hard on the woman. Really, Mrs. Bradley had been nothing but generous to them. She was putting them up in a high-end townhome and funding groceries and utilities so they could focus on school.
It could be that this was the only way Charlotte knew how to make up for years of checking out on her daughter. In all the time Chloe had known Charlotte, Chloe had never picked up much emotion from her. She was mostly superficially happy—with a few moments of acute frustration—but that was it. In that sense, Chloe pitied the woman who seemingly had it all but lacked depth or sincerity.
As tall as Chloe, Charlotte was an inch taller than Nikki with a trimmer figure. They both had big blue eyes that no man could resist, although Nikki’s were a shade darker, like her father’s. They had the same auburn tresses. They were both chock full of confidence. And that’s where the similarities ended.
Nikki looked like a Charlotte mini-me but had substance beneath the surface. Where Charlotte came off as guarded, Nikki was pretty open about what she thought about everything. She was fun and outgoing and genuine all at once. Her overall emotional vibe was steady, which made her the perfect roommate for Chloe.
“Chloe, I know you’ve been busy with school and volunteering. I’ve made you some tea, specially blended for clarity and relaxation.” Charlotte retrieved a small bag of sachets from her purse and handed it to Chloe.
“Clarity?” Chloe questioned.
“And relaxation,” Charlotte repeated.
“Oh … Thank you.”
“And, I have a treat for both of you.” Charlotte’s voice ratcheted a pitch higher with excitement. “Full body massages and a guided meditation with an actual Buddhist monk.”
The announcement was met with crickets, but Charlotte either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. “This Sunday morning and no excuses! If you have something else planned, cancel it. It’s a once in a lifetime, mind-opening experience!”
Chloe resisted the urge to look at Nikki. “Wow, that’s amazing. Thank you.”
“Yeah,” Nikki joined in, “that’s cool, Mom, thanks.”
“Of course, darling! You both deserve this.” Charlotte picked up her purse as she stood to kiss her daughter on the cheek. “I’ll let you two get on with your weekend.”
She was halfway out the door when she asked, “You’re both using the Tiger’s Eye keychains I gave you? Every time you leave the house?”
“Uh,” Nikki hazarded a glance to Chloe. “Yeah?”
Chloe lifted a shoulder. “My key is on it.”
“Good!” Charlotte beamed. “It’
s protecting, you know. Oh, I know you two think it’s all silly mumbo-jumbo, but please humor me. I must have my girls safe!”
Nikki saw her mother out and closed the door behind her, pivoting to Chloe. “Is it just me, or was that weirder than usual?”
Chloe was thinking the same thing.
“Tiger’s Eye,” Nikki muttered. “I have a hunk of Tiger’s Eye and a can of pepper spray as keychains. Guess which one I’m going for in a crunch?”
Chloe laughed. “The Tiger’s Eye. Definitely.”
Char sat in her convertible sports car outside the brownstone she had bought for her daughter. Evaluating her reflection in the visor mirror, she thought she was holding up rather well. Too well, really—she had to apply stage make-up to pull off her role as a human mother of a nineteen-year-old.
Like purebloods, she aged almost imperceptibly after thirty, but not all realmless did. Many realmless would live, age, and die before their hundredth birthday believing they were human. Char knew better; she was a young and healthy sixty-two.
The bitter, old realmless woman who had raised Char for the first fifteen years of her life had told Char that her parents were both realmless. Although Char had never been able to confirm who her parents were, her powers supported the theory that she was mostly—if not all—magic. The fewer human genes, the better for realmless people.
Char had enough concentration of magic blood coursing through her veins to cast spells other realmless couldn’t pull off. She could temporarily fool humans with false suggestions. She could cast protective spells that discouraged undesirable humans—like criminals and would-be criminals—from approaching her, her daughter, Chloe, and their homes. But the effectiveness of all her magic was limited by the binding of an ancestor somewhere in her family tree, and Char found that vexing.
It had taken a while for the magic realms to acknowledge their short-sighted laws had inadvertently spawned the realmless race. These days, pureblood convicts were either rehabilitated or put to death, depending on the severity of the crime. This change did nothing to address the existing realmless, of course, nor was that the intent. Magic people had accepted zero responsibility for their hand in the creation of the realmless.
Char had no grand plans to bring down the leaders of the magic realms, even if they did deserve it. She didn’t care about them any more than they cared about her, except that they held the key to unbinding her powers—powers that she felt certain were Coven. If a Coven person had bound the powers of her bloodline, then a Coven person could unbind them. Enter Chloe St. Cyr.
Watching the young witch this closely had not been part of the plan until Char learned that this generation of Coven people were profoundly powerful, like those from the Age of the Xxyryn. No Xxyryn had been identified yet, but whether this was the new Age of the Xxyryn or not, Chloe was likely to be more powerful than her parents. For St. Cyr blood, that would be significant. Char’s remote tracking rapidly turned to close monitoring.
Char had one foot in Chloe’s life, and she had her half-human daughter to thank for that. Char had found a wealthy Earthen man immediately after she abandoned Chloe and wasted no time having another child to ensure ongoing financial support. On the upside, the divorce settlement had made her a rich woman. On the downside, her ex-husband’s human blood had so thoroughly drowned the magic blood that Nikki may as well be a full-blooded human.
Having not an ounce of inhuman ability, Nikki was easy to raise as Earthen. She knew nothing of the realmless, her half-brother, or her roommate’s lineage. She knew nothing of the existence of other realms at all. When Char enrolled Nikki in the same middle school Chloe attended, she never dreamt the two would become friends on their own, let alone best friends.
Nikki being a year younger, they weren’t even in the same classes at first. Char pushed her daughter to test out of her freshman year and catch up with Chloe in high school. It took some extra studying and a smidge of magic, but the fates had finally smiled upon Char. Her human daughter and the utterly clueless Chloe had been inseparable ever since.
Char had cast a cloaking spell on Chloe as an infant before releasing her. Each month, she reinforced spells around the townhome and the Tiger’s Eye keychain Chloe carried. It was nothing that a Coven Realmer couldn’t easily see through if they tried; Char’s magic was not that strong. But the last she had heard, the St. Cyrs still believed there had been a miscarriage.
Char could not sense either of her children the way purebloods could sense their relatives; she had no idea where Seth was or what he was doing. When Nikki was old enough to move out, Char began checking in regularly. It was annoying for all of them but the only way she could continue to keep tabs on Chloe.
With the proper training in the Coven Realm, Chloe would have likely developed her talent, whatever it was, by now. Without training, Coven children were as useless as Earthen children. But even late-blooming Coven Realmers came into their full powers by twenty. Any day now, the witch’s gift would make a conspicuous appearance, and Char would be the only one who could help Chloe make sense of what was happening. Char’s intuition told her that change was coming. It had been a long and risky journey, but the pay-off would be worthwhile.
Ritt checked for the Jetta through an office window as the last of the staff, parents, and teens drained from the building. Chloe wasn’t sitting in the reception area as he had expected, but her roommate’s car was still there. It had been two days since he kissed Chloe in that very parking lot.
Chloe hadn’t returned his calls or texts, and today she had conveniently come in after lunch. Ritt had passed a stack of files to the office mid-afternoon. He knew, if Chloe was asked to stay and help, she wouldn’t refuse. That would keep her busy enough to ensure she was around after his last session. But then what?
Ritt was running out of patience. He shouldn’t have dismissed the pouncing thing out of hand. He could still track her down, mark her as his, take her home to Arizona, and sort through the details later. He wouldn’t, but it was an entertaining idea.
Ritt’s reverie was interrupted by movement in the parking lot below. It was Chloe and Dante. He had seen Chloe reach out to this same boy before, but Dante wasn’t ready to talk. Ritt caught a glimpse of Chloe’s face. She was lecturing the kid, her delicate features drawn in a frown. Damn.
Too impatient for the elevator, he rushed three flights of stairs to the parking lot, pushing the punch bar of the metal door open. The boy was clinging to Chloe and was … was he crying? Chloe patted Dante’s shoulder.
“It gets easier, the more you talk about it,” Chloe whispered.
Dante nodded with a sniffle. He retreated to the bus stop across the lot. Chloe turned back to the building, startled to find Ritt at the door. She recovered quickly and tried to pass by. The heavy door slammed shut behind them. He caught her upper arm. “What did you say to Dante?”
She looked pointedly at his hand on her arm, and Ritt let go. She stepped back to the wall by the door. It was a distance of less than two feet, and yet it was as if she needed some space between them. Ritt gritted his teeth. Distance was the last thing they needed.
“I told him that showing up here each week won’t help him if he never talks to anyone.”
“That’s it? That’s all you said?” That wasn’t all. His gut told him there was something more Chloe wasn’t telling him.
She looked away and broached a different subject. “Look, that should have never happened between us. Because we’re friends. And I’m glad that we’re friends, but we’re just friends. You live in Arizona, and I live here, and we can only ever be friends.”
Ritt paused. So, this was what she’d been telling herself. The word friends was notably less convincing the more she said it. Even Chloe didn’t believe it. He could feel his cat arch its back and settle low, watching Chloe through Ritt’s eyes with the smugness of a predator who had cornered its prey.
A carnal smile tugged at his lips as he stepped forward. “Just friends? That’s
how you feel about me?”
She stared back at him with wide green eyes, her pulse racing again. Ritt called her out. “Then why say it, if you don’t believe it?”
Chloe began to stammer, and Ritt cut her off with a heated kiss. She moaned, and he was lost. All thoughts of propriety melted away as his body pinned hers to the concrete wall.
Ritt slipped one hand up her blouse. He felt his nails lengthen to claws unwillingly as the wildcat inside him strained below the surface. His eyes would also be changing then. His jaw throbbed, and Ritt broke the kiss just long enough to grind his teeth in a message back to the cat: not now. This didn’t usually happen so soon after shifting. It was the pent-up frustration of being so close to his mate for months without claiming her.
The throbbing in his jaw subsided, and his claws began to retract. Still, Ritt raised the tips of his fingers to keep would-be claws from skimming her skin and kept his eyelids low. Chloe’s hands were on his chest, tugging insistently at his shirt. Some small part of him was aware that it was all going way too fast, but that part of him was drowned out by the feel of her flesh, soft and willing beneath his hands. Wrapping an arm about her waist, he lifted her hips to his, her skirt sliding up her thighs.
Chloe’s hands snaked around his back as she pressed her body into his. Ritt’s conscious mind nagged at him again. He needed to gain control of the cat, needed to take her back to his apartment and start over slowly. But he could feel her core through the silk and lace undergarment—hot and wet. Stopping now was a pipe dream.
Ritt produced a single claw and shred the silken material easily. He freed himself of his pants, pushed inside her, and froze. Chloe’s eyes met his, widening from dazed passion to shock. She was a virgin?! Ritt ducked his head, hoping she hadn’t noticed the change in his eyes.