by Sennah Tate
Sarah screamed.
She screamed and hid behind a skinny pine tree. This was not happening. This was not happening. Sloan was not a shifter. She wasn’t about to be disemboweled by a tiger.
A howl of pain made her peek from behind her poorly-chosen hiding place. The tigers were locked in battle; a never-ending flurry of claws, teeth and fur. Sarah wished she could intervene, but she was pretty sure at least one of those beasts wanted her dead. Her mind reeled with all of the implications.
The fight was brutal; she couldn’t watch. Sarah only heard the sickening symphony of bones breaking and animals howling in pain. This couldn’t really be about her, could it? She was a nobody. A harmless little witch.
Guardian, the word rose to the surface of her mind like a bubble through water. She’d heard Sloan say it. She remembered reading about the special witches. But she wasn’t special. She wasn’t even any good with magic.
Finally over the frantic beating of her heart, Sarah heard one of the tigers amble off into the forest to tend to its wounds. The other turned its gaze on Sarah. For a moment, she saw the deadly predator lurking just below the surface. For a terrifying instant, she thought she was a goner.
She watched Sloan shift back to his human form, his beautiful flesh covered in a multitude of fresh wounds and wet blood. He didn’t say anything to her.
She ran.
As fast as her clumsy feet would carry her. She broke through twigs and branches, pushed through curtains of Spanish moss in the dark forest. She didn’t think. She had to get away from the deadly creature that filled her with so many conflicting feelings.
She never heard him coming. Tigers were stealthy like that. He tackled her to the ground, sending her sliding on damp leaves. Sloan grabbed her by the arm and tugged her through the trees, wincing every few steps as he did.
Sarah didn’t have the good sense to argue. Or the presence of mind to speak at all. Her mind was working in overdrive and somehow simultaneously blank with sheer shock.
By the time he’d dragged her back to the library, most of his bleeding stopped. He healed so quickly. Was that part of being a shifter? She wondered.
Sloan. A shifter.
None of it made any sense.
Sloan locked the door behind them. Sarah didn’t know why she felt like a child ready to be scolded. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, following someone wasn’t exactly right, but neither was plotting the demise of an unsuspecting employee. Sloan certainly wasn’t without fault here. Even if he had defended her and nearly killed another man to protect her.
“What were you thinking?” He hissed, his hand never loosening its grip on her forearm.
“Me?” Sarah exclaimed, hysteria creeping into her voice. “You’re a shifter.”
Sloan’s jaw tightened at the reminder. He could snap her neck like a twig. Why didn’t he? He wanted to keep all of this a secret, didn’t he? The only question left was whether the secret was worth her life…
Her heart hammered and her magic went crazy, blinds fluttering, papers swirling in the air like a small tornado was contained within the library.
“You could have been killed,” he said ominously, ignoring the obnoxious display of her magic.
“Yeah, and you were casually discussing it like the menu. What kind of plans do you have? Who was that man?” Sudden suspicion crept into the recesses of her mind and she wrenched her arm free of Sloan and hurried into the back office.
He followed in a handful of long graceful strides, hot on her heels. She knew she should be more afraid of him. One swipe of the tiger’s claws could disembowel her. One bite from those powerful jaws could rip through her aorta as she slowly bled to death.
Janine would find her body, undoubtedly.
She started rifling through papers on his desk, shuffling through the orders for his new acquisitions and adding all the pieces together in her mind. How had she missed it before? Her own life didn’t matter at that moment. Only the Kerris. A deep-down protective instinct kicked on as if a switch had been flipped.
“Will you just listen to me?” Sloan rumbled. Sarah’s wild magic sent a desk skittering across the floor, pinning Sloan against the wall. She kept searching.
With every page flip, Sarah’s suspicions grew. Sloan apparently had an obsession with the history of the ley lines that ran below the Kerris. His desk was littered with shifter lore and history, accounts of witches guarding the veins of power from the shifter clans, and the Kerris. It was all here. He and his clan were trying to take control of everything. To what ends? To destroy the ley lines? Or to use them? Which would be worse?
She felt a tug in her very soul at the thought of the ley lines being destroyed. She couldn’t let that happen.
But he was right. She wasn’t a Guardian. She couldn’t stop them. She couldn’t even stop herself.
But she’d do her damnedest to try.
Chapter 18
SLOAN
“Sarah,” he said gently, freeing himself from the desk that pinned him in place. He recognized the betrayal that crossed her features. Is was the same look Dana had given him when she realized he wasn’t going to save her. He’d done this to Sarah. Put her in this terrible position. He felt like the worst human alive. And he wasn’t even human.
Her shoulders stiffened at the sound of his voice.
“Is this…” she gestured around to the mess of debris she’d created, “Is this why you bought your way into Kerris? For direct access to the land for your clan?”
Sleek auburn tresses escaped her ponytail and whipped around in the never-ceasing whirlwind her magic created.
He couldn’t think with things flying around the room possessed. He had to bat away stray documents just to get in the room. The lights flickered incessantly and a howling wind roared in his ears.
“Can you calm your magic so we can talk?” He shouted.
She shook her head, “We both know I can’t. Answer me. Is this why you’re here? For the magic?”
Sloan’s expression changed. He wasn’t asking for her forgiveness now, any and all hint of tenderness gone from his face. He answered before he could stop himself, years of defensive instincts kicking in.
“As Director it is my right to make purchases as I see fit. My plans for this place are none of your concern.”
He took three steps forward, swatting at books that circled the room in a furious tempest. Only the desk separated them now. It was too much of a barrier for Sloan’s liking. He felt hot and anxious. She wanted to be angry at him, he could see it. How could she be so irresistible without trying?
“Like hell it isn’t. This is my library, Director or no Director. If you want to do anything to this building or the land it sits on, you’re going to have to go through–”
She may not be able to control her magic, but he could. He stretched over the desk and captured her tirade with a kiss.
“—me,” she muttered.
“You’re so damn sexy when you’re angry,” Sloan said with a quirk of his lips.
Sarah was speechless.
He kissed her again and the library stilled for a glorious peaceful moment.
He could drown in her.
Sloan’s kisses were soft, demanding, and utterly in control. He manipulated her mouth like a sculptor taking to clay and within moments she was complete putty. He dragged a hand down her side, the other cupping the nape of her neck, trapping her in place. He’d wanted this again ever since that moment under the tree.
Sarah melted against him.
For a brief blissful moment, it seemed like Sarah was going to give in to him. Then she broke the kiss, a mixture of terror and lust coloring her beautiful blue gaze.
“You’re going to destroy everything I love,” she said without question.
Sloan’s heart clenched and he shook his head emphatically. He couldn’t do anything to hurt her.
“Never,” he promised.
That seemed to be good enough. She dove in for another kiss
and Sloan pressed her against the desk, sliding a hand up under her shirt to cup one of her creamy breasts. Sarah moaned and leaned into his hand, the lights flickering once more.
Sloan didn’t care this time. Let them flicker.
His fingers twirled a nipple between them and Sarah arched, a wanton cry escaping her lips as a chair careened across the room, screeching against the tile floor.
He went for the button on her jeans, already painfully hard, desperate to sink into her, to feel her slick heat clenching him...
Her hand stopped him and he saw hesitation reflecting in her gaze.
The moment seemed to drag on in slow motion, like in a movie when you knew the horrible thing was going to happen but your mind tries to prolong it as much as possible. She shook her head. Pushed his hand away from her bosom. Separated herself from him.
“I can’t do this,” he heard her say as she walked backwards to the door, her eyes wet with unshed emotion.
In his head, a thousand and one protests cried out. But in reality, Sloan said nothing as Sarah walked out on him.
Chapter 19
SARAH
She couldn’t believe she’d actually done it. Her own voice still rang hollow in her ears, refusing the thing she wanted more than anything.
Sloan.
Just the thought of him made her angry… and horny. But mostly angry. Definitely mostly angry.
What was she thinking? Sloan was bad news, through and through. He was a shifter. He’d known everything about her from the very beginning and kept this huge secret from her. How could he be trusted with anything? She didn’t even trust him in the library, she certainly couldn’t trust him in her bed.
And yet…
Thinking about him made her molten inside. If he appeared and kissed her again, Sarah wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk away again.
That thought scared her. She was so out of control with him. Her magic even more so. Best to keep her distance. And then some.
She heard footsteps in the gravel parking lot. Hurried, running.
“Sarah, wait!” Sloan called. Her traitorous heart leaped into her throat. Could nothing ever just be simple?
“What?” She spat before she could stop herself.
“Look, I deserve every bit of anger you’re feeling—”
“You lied to me. You’re trying to destroy Kerris. You kept this gigantic secret from me. How many other secrets are there? How many other shady meetings in the woods and girls’ lives at stake?”
“It’s not like tha—”
“What’s it like then?” She was on a roll now. Storming through the parking lot, throwing barbs over her shoulder. She couldn’t stop herself from spitting all of her venom at him, her betrayal and angst wore right on her sleeve. “I don’t know if you missed it, but he wants to kill me, maybe more. If you associate with monsters like that…” She reached her car and fumbled with the keys.
Sloan’s jaw hardened and he pinned her with a fierce gaze, his green eyes flashing in the darkness with a feline reflectivity.
“I will never let any harm come to you or the library,” he said.
She wanted to believe him. His voice was so earnest, his body so close and warm, his lips so… talented. Sarah shook her head.
“I can’t take your word for it.”
Sloan’s face fell and he sighed, “Of course. At least let me make sure you get home alright. I don’t trust Randal for an instant.”
Sarah paused. Randal? Was that the other man? Who was he? No doubt someone from the tiger clan that wanted the ley lines.
She lifted her chin defiantly and narrowed her gaze, “I can take care of myself. I’m a witch, you know.” The words felt foreign on her tongue, but she embraced the strangeness. Maybe it was time to accept what she was. Others clearly knew what she was and she couldn’t hide anymore. If she was going to be persecuted for her powers, she should probably know how to defend herself with said powers.
Sloan growled, “I’m well aware. I would sleep easier knowing you’re home safely, though.”
She gritted her teeth, not wanting to admit that Randal’s threat had shaken her. Not wanting to admit that having Sloan nearby did make her feel safer.
“What makes you think I care about how you sleep?”
He closed the distance between them, pressing her body into her car, his lips a fraction of an inch from hers. Sarah resisted a groan. God he smelled fantastic.
“Are you saying you haven’t thought about what it would be like in my bed?” he purred, the tiger taking over.
She hesitated, unwilling to give into her hormones.
A streetlight exploded in a shower of sparks and Sloan cast an irritated glance towards it.
“Damn it, Sarah. Stop being stubborn. I just want to follow you home.”
Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. If she could find her voice, she’d tell him the other things she wanted. The times she’d thought about his bed. Him naked in his bed. Both of them naked in his bed.
She got into her car and heaved a great sigh. He was so unsettling. Unnerving. At least she had the short drive home by herself to come up with the story she’d tell her mother.
Chapter 20
SLOAN
He tossed and turned restlessly all night. Sloan knew that he’d fucked up royally. He should’ve trusted Sarah more. The clan less. He had to make it right but there was no way that Sarah would ever talk to him again at this rate. Nobody would blame her.
By the time the first fingers of sunlight poked through the blinds, Sloan hadn’t had any sleep and he was sure that his haggard expression showed it. Despite the exhaustion tugging on his puffy eyelids, all he could think about was going to the library and fixing things with Sarah.
With a great deal of trepidation he turned his cell on, expecting a dozen calls from the Elder about his altercation with Randal.
Nothing.
No missed calls. No voicemails. No texts. Hell, no emails, not that the Elder was a huge fan of electronic mail.
So Randal must not have told the Elder about their meeting. Why?
Something was definitely not right with the other tiger, but Sloan didn’t want to dwell on it. At that moment, he was willing to overlook Randal’s ulterior motives for the lack of a headache from the Elder.
He got out of bed and washed his face, shaving the two days’ growth that stubbled his jaw.
His biggest worry now — besides making sure Sarah stayed safe — was to try and win back her trust. It might be impossible. He’d really screwed this one up.
What a fucking mess.
His tiger agreed. He’d let their mate slip through his fingers so often that the tiger was ready to take her himself. That was sure to go over well with the timid witch.
She hadn’t been so timid last night though. She’d been full of fury and vengeance. More breath-taking than ever.
Her reaction to the Kerris’ peril convinced him once and for all that Sarah was the Guardian. But now he wasn’t the only one that knew it. Randal knew it too. No matter what he’d tried to say, the other tiger wouldn’t be swayed.
Sarah couldn’t come into her own by herself. She’d need help. She would never accept it from him, and to be honest, he wasn’t the one to be teaching anyone magical things.
As he got dressed, Sloan formulated a plan of sorts. Sarah needed a witch to help her learn her powers. Sloan only knew one witch — Dana’s best friend and the reason she’d been labeled a traitor.
He couldn’t fault a teenager for the flaws in the Clan’s governance. She’d lost Dana too. Maybe she would help.
What other option did he have?
On his drive to the library, Sloan pulled up the long-forgotten contact in his phone. It rang three times before a sleepy voice answered, “Hello?”
Sloan took a deep breath and steeled himself for the conversation ahead. Before continuing, he tried to make his voice as cheery as possible, “Hey Ash, it’s Sloan.”
Chapter
21
SARAH
“Okay, so tell me everything that happened,” Janine said excitedly the next morning. They’d already been open for an hour, but Sarah got the impression Janine had been bursting at the seams to ask for a while now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sarah replied coolly. She didn’t want to acknowledge her brief moment of weakness with Sloan. Multiple moments. She couldn’t tell Janine how the memory of his touch made her body tremble. The thought of his kiss made her anxious for another taste. She couldn’t tell Janine about how she fantasized about him stripping her bare and worshipping her body.
“Oh, come on. I’m old, honey, not dead,” Janine teased, “I could cut the tension in this place with a knife and slather my toast with it. What happened?”
Sarah shrugged.
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“You two went on a date yesterday—”
“How’d you know —”
“Nevermind how I know. You went out with him and now you’re pretending he doesn’t exist. I know you feel him watching you, sweetheart, I’m surprised you haven’t caught on fire with the heat in his eyes.”
Sarah was tempted to look over her shoulder then. She had felt his eyes on her. She thought it was just in her head.
So what if he was looking at her? She still couldn’t trust him – or herself – with her uncontrollable magic pulling the strings.
Janine was too observant. The middle-aged woman spent her free time reading trashy romance novels with Fabio covers – of course she expected something to happen between them. Never mind that something did happen. It was in the past and it couldn’t happen again.
The library’s doors opened and Sarah got a whiff of lilacs before a pretty blond woman approached the desk.
“Hi!” She said brightly, a big smile stretching her face. “You must be Sarah, I’m Ashley.”
For a moment, Sarah was confused. Was she supposed to know this stranger? She cast a worried look in Janine’s direction, but Janine wasn’t forthcoming with any help after being denied the latest gossip.