Playing the Witch's Game (Keepers of the Veil)

by Zoe Forward

  “I might’ve lied.”

  “Seriously? You lied about this?” She hit his arm. “This isn’t something you lie about.”

  He was tempted to kiss her.

  She pointed at him. “You seem to know a lot you haven’t shared. You know someone’s going to kill me. I think you even know who’s after us. You know we’re somehow linked and probably knew well before me. And you knew Owen’s girlfriend. I’m tired of secrets.” Her eyes narrowed further. “I don’t want to be stuck with you forever. You’re…ugh.” She threw up her arms.

  “But you were okay with Owen? Talk about secrets. Even I don’t know the full extent of what’s going on with him, or even what he is. Speaks poorly of his taste to be engaged to Anaïs.”

  “Do you know anything about Owen’s abilities?”

  “No.” His life depended on intel, and not knowing drove him nuts.

  “I don’t like people who won’t be straight with me. That’s your forte, isn’t it? You must’ve made a superb spy.”

  “And that Owen asshole was so straight with you. He made you go on a life-threatening TV show under the pretense of rewarding you with a date, which he obviously had no plans to make good on. He proposed to his girlfriend while you were flying down to South America. Getting you on this show was a part of some plan I think I’m only now figuring out. I think Owen might be working with the person who cast the hex.”

  “I’m pissed you didn’t tell me about all that and us. But whatever is going on here right now, in this dimension, is not about Owen.”

  “You’re goddamned right this isn’t about Owen.” He leaned in close, his mouth inches from hers. “Kiss me,” he demanded. His voice was low, the command soft.

  He didn’t know if she moved to cover the scant inches between them or if he did. His hand molded around the nape of her neck, possessive and controlling. Her small body fell into his with a moan. Her mouth left his and her teeth scraped against her lower lip. Fire ignited.

  He took control of the kiss, pulling her lips back to his. He was starved for her, had been ever since they’d left this dimension early this morning. She erased the darkness in his mind and covering his soul. She drowned out the truth that he was a killer, good at hunting other killers because he understood them. It didn’t put him on the right side of things. It made him as evil as his prey. But being with her made him feel human. And wanted. Needed, even.

  She wrapped her arms around him and tossed a leg around one of his as if seeking relief from the tension building between them. They needed this release.

  “No.” She pulled her mouth away from his and tried to jerk away, but he held her against him. “You’re just trying to distract me.”

  “Pretty good distraction, though.”

  “Yeah,” she muttered.

  “We’re in a hell of a mess, Angel. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Not really. How big a mess? Please, tell me what’s going on. Stop being a spy.”

  “Technically, I never was a Russian spy. I only did contract work for the country, mostly hunting international killers and sometimes acquiring lost items. No serious intelligence-gathering or espionage.”

  “What’s going on right now? Who’s after us?”

  “I’ve tried to shield you. Alexi and I have been hunting this particular evil for the past year between jobs. Now she’s targeted you because of me.”

  “She? You have history with her? With Anna, Owen’s fiancée? Did you and she…?”

  “Her name is Anaïs. She says we did. I don’t remember. Before you and I met, my lifestyle didn’t allow for more than the occasional…encounter. Anaïs targeted me in a bar. I didn’t realize she’d premeditated everything until looking back on the incident. I never found her attractive, which makes me think she drugged me or something. Perhaps she used magic to get me to go with her. I just…I don’t remember a damn thing after the bar until I woke up the next morning.”

  “What did she do to you?”

  “I’m not sure, but I woke up naked in her bed.”

  “She raped you?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  Jen brushed her hand down his cheek. “That’s disgusting.”

  “I’ve been through worse.”

  Wryly, she said, “Getting slipped a potion seems to happen to you a lot when around women with gifts, doesn’t it?”

  “You didn’t do it to me to be evil or hurt me. You wanted information. I get that.”

  “I’m not asking for your forgiveness for what I did last year.” She pushed at him to get free of his embrace, but he didn’t release her.

  “I’m not giving out forgiveness. Don’t ever slip me something again.”

  She pulled her head away from him and cocked an eyebrow in a definite you don’t own me with the hint of I might again in there. He was tempted to laugh. She brought that much brightness into even this dark conversation.

  “If you do, I’ll punish you,” he said, only half threatening.

  An impish smile curved her lips. “That sounds like fun.” Then her playfulness disappeared. “Who exactly is this Anaïs woman? Why is she a threat to us?”

  “She’s a necromancer.” He smiled. “I like you jealous. But you’re not in competition with her. The woman is pure evil. I’m not interested in her.”

  “Isn’t a necromancer a person who talks to dead people, or raises them from the dead?”

  “To a degree, but she’s far worse. Anaïs can communicate with the dead and make a dead body reveal its secrets. But she’s more focused on acquiring power through death practices.”

  “Why you?”

  “The son of the brother of the death reaper has always traditionally been the next-generation death reaper. I think she’s convinced if she controls that son—my son—it’ll give her power.”

  “Your son will take Alexi’s place?”

  “Maybe. Alexi and Serenity together might’ve changed the game a bit. In the past, no death reaper has married or been involved with a woman long enough to have a kid. Most humans are terrified of Alexi. His death aura freaks out all but the most deranged. No man is interested in long-term with any of the girls who are into death and pain. Serenity is different. For some reason what Alexi is and what he must do doesn’t affect her like everyone else. She even seems to enjoy tagging along when Alexi does his duty for Hades.”

  “The gods matched them. They’re good together. I can’t imagine another guy who could keep up with her. She’s pretty tough. But this Anaïs wants your son? Does she want you both to…you know, make that kid, or does she want to steal your son?”

  “Stealing my son will be tough. Even if I died, Alexi would protect my son with his life. Few get past Alexi.”

  “Or Serenity. But no one is perfect. This Anna…Anaïs person already managed to get pictures of them, indicating she’s able to be stealthy enough to avoid their detection. Let’s say this woman could get past them. Do you think she’d want to steal him?”

  “It wouldn’t work, at least not from what Alexi has told me. I don’t think that’s her plan.”

  “So, she wants to be your son’s mother…” Her words fizzled out.

  “No one gets to be my son’s mother other than you.” He wiped a hand across his face as if that could dissipate the panic consuming his mind. “No more discussing kids. Even speaking of it scares the shit out of me.”

  “I’m not ready to be a mom.”

  “Good, because I’m sure as hell not ready to be a parent. Christ, I don’t even think I’d make a good parent.”

  “It sounds like this woman already tried, uh, taking advantage of you. That didn’t work. So now what? Can she do IVF or AI?”

  “Worse. She plans to steal your soul, and believes when she owns it, then I cannot resist her.” He held his breath waiting for her reaction.

  “How exactly does she steal my soul and then keep it? I assume this involves me dying.”

  “She is able to absorb dead souls for a while.”


  “I don’t even want to know how you found that out. She probably wouldn’t be able to steal my soul. Each Pleiades witch’s soul is linked to the goddess from whom we descended. We see the impressions of that soul at our confirmation meeting every twenty years. The soul stays in the afterlife.”

  “I doubt she counted on you being part of a Greek gods drama, too. I’m not sure she knows. If she does know, then it might make this doubly dangerous for both of us. I’m not sure what the gods will do if she tries to circumvent their plans for us. Or what they’ll do if she tries to steal your soul.”

  “So we have no idea what’s going to happen when she confronts us. But you have seen the moment she confronts us?”

  “I think my vision is about that, but I have seen several versions. I don’t know. I never see Anaïs in the vision, though.”

  She cupped his cheek with her hand. Her warmth seeped into his cool skin. “Great. Do you think she threw the hex and ensorcelled the crocodile?”

  “Maybe. It’s likely.”

  She smiled. “You don’t like uncertainty, do you?”

  He shook his head, barely able to concentrate on the words from her mesmerizing mouth.

  Her warm hand moved around to the back of his neck. “You’ve known about us for a while, it seems. How about we take this bond thing for a test drive?”

  …

  She hated the thought of a woman drugging him and taking advantage. She pulled his head toward hers and kissed him.

  But he stopped and rested his forehead against hers. “Shower.”

  “Yes. Good plan.”

  Their clothes were mostly peeled off by the time she turned on the shower’s jets. He kissed her, reclaiming the bit of distance created by getting undressed. He dragged a finger across her core, drawing a groan from her. She ran her hands along his chest, desperate to touch his bare skin everywhere. She traced his side where he’d been injured, but no scar remained.

  She unzipped the cargoes. He sprang free, totally unencumbered by underwear. He hissed out a breath, growling her name. But she wasn’t stopping, and she wasn’t slowing down.

  “Desperate tonight, Angel?” He picked her up and balanced her against the shower wall. He kissed down her neck as he wove magic on her body with his fingers.

  “I’m not the only one, it seems.” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her body was overloaded with sensation until all she could do was cling to him.

  “I need you,” she pleaded. “All of you.”

  “God, Angel…”

  The high he’d been working her to dangled in front of her, almost in reach. “Don’t stop.”

  “I don’t have a condom in here…”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I care. Where are they?”

  “Bedroom. There was at least one left from last time.” She added, “Hurry.”

  He shoved a container of body wash into her hands. “Give me a sec. But don’t…” His gaze dropped down her body to the vee of her thighs. “That pleasure belongs to me.”

  By the time she finished a quick wash, he was back. He lifted her, and she didn’t waste any time wrapping her legs around him. The new position had his hard length rubbing over her clit with every breath, driving her need for him higher.

  But he kept her pinned so she couldn’t adjust their angle. Couldn’t get that little bit of extra friction she needed to find that high. He gripped her thighs, holding her steady until she thrashed against him. “What are you waiting for? Please.”

  “I want you to understand—”

  Gripping his head, she kissed him. Who cared about talking right now? All that mattered was getting him inside her to finish this. She tried to convey that with her tongue, and then her teeth, needing to get him on the same desperate page as her.

  His gaze was dark, unreadable. For one hysterical moment she thought he might deny them this.

  Then he slammed into her, fully inside with one stroke.

  Perfection.

  He started a brutal pace, sending her spiraling toward that pinnacle she needed. She moved as much as the position would allow. “More,” she demanded.

  He angled her to allow for deeper.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped. She dug her nails into his shoulder. Her climax powered through her, disconnecting her from everything but sensation. She moaned his name over and over as he kept thrusting until he followed her over that edge.

  “I love you, Nikolai,” she breathed.

  …

  Those words ripped him apart. They gave him a strength he’d never known before. She owned him, body and soul.

  For this woman, he would kill.

  For her alone, he would die.

  With ragged breathing, he smoothed his hands over her thighs and cupped her ass as he slowly withdrew and lowered her. He should say something to validate those three powerful words. Something reassuring. But he couldn’t vocalize the reiteration, not with the certainty that life ended for him very soon.

  “Can you stand?” He kissed her on the cheek.

  She nodded. Her gaze skittered past his, filled with hurt.

  He hated to be the cause of that look. He washed them both with the body wash. Then they toweled off.

  “We should go back. If we stay off radar again for more time, they’ll be convinced something’s wrong with our trackers again. Or assume we’re messing with them,” she said, her back to him.

  “It might get us off the show, which is good. Before we go, though, I’m going to eat more of Charlotte’s food.”

  She led him into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and tossed him a water bottle, then began unloading a few Tupperware containers.

  “What were you like as a kid?” she asked as she sat across from him at the kitchen table.

  “What?” That was a topic he didn’t want to hash out.

  “I’m curious. We have to sit here for a minute or so. I don’t want to talk about the show or dying.”

  He gazed out the large windows across a postcard-worthy view of blue ocean. “There’s not much to tell.”

  “You miraculously went from baby to adult with no in between?”

  Yes.

  When he didn’t respond she said, “Okay. Then tell me how Alexi came to be what he is.”

  “I’m not supposed to talk about it, but since Serenity would probably tell you…it’s inherited. He came to it too early, when he was about thirteen. This is not a good story.”

  “That means death was involved. It always is with us and the magic. Were you there when he got the powers?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened?”

  He scooped up a spoonful of potato salad and chewed slowly, searching for the words, keeping his gaze trained out the window. Memory assaulted him, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. “We’d stayed late after school. I don’t even remember why. I couldn’t even tell you what grades we were in. I remember walking in the front door of our house. My mother and uncle were on the floor. Dead. There was so much blood. My dad stood above them with the knife he’d used to kill them. Alexi and I had become suspicious that he’d been murdering people on his frequent business trips. We didn’t doubt he planned to kill us, too, even though he knew only too well Alexi’s heritage. And with our uncle now dead, Alexi was next in line.” His gaze swung back to Jen. No judgment from her met his gaze.

  “How old were you?” she asked.

  Releasing this memory from the vaults of his mind to someone who might understand became a powerful, almost heady relief. Yet he hoped she’d see how fucked up he was. Maybe it would help her move beyond him when he died. “Eleven. Alexi became what he is right then at thirteen, and apparently his boss, Hades, ordered that he kill our father. I can’t say he was as smooth as he is today when he does a Hades-sanctified kill. I had to stab our father in the back to keep him from killing Alexi. Both of us got slashed up. Then Alexi did what he does to release a soul.”

  “Eleven-year-old boys aren’t su
pposed to be forced to kill their fathers.” Her eyes glassed over.

  “No use crying. It happened. We moved on to do what we were born to do. Hunt and kill.”

  She wiped moisture from her eyes and moved around to sit on his lap. She hugged him as if trying to provide comfort to that eleven-year-old.

  “I’m not that boy anymore, Angel.”

  “You really should stop calling me that. I’m not an angel.”

  “You’re so beautiful that it gives you an innocence. To me…you’re an angel.”

  She slid her hands up his sides and tunneled her hands into his hair. “I know you’re not that boy anymore. But it’s part of who you are.”

  He framed her face with his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. His chest contracted. He’d been drowning without her and hadn’t known it until the past few days. He needed her compassion as much as he wanted her body.

  She touched his face, the warmth of her seeping into him. His body reacted with a brutal rush of raw desire. He stroked his tongue over her full lips. She shivered in reaction.

  He had never felt such a desperation to touch a woman. He struggled to keep his hands gentle, to keep his mouth tender.

  “This is a hell of a mess.”

  “There’s just now.” She kissed his lips.

  “We’ve had our now. It’s time to return to the show and live our fucked-up reality.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Two hours past sunrise, whenever dawn came in the jungle, and another bridge crossed. Jen glared up the slick rock mountain wall, their next level of required insanity. “This can’t be right. Are we going up that?”

  Nikolai’s face scrunched up. He stared at the sky, not the rock wall the show wanted them to potentially climb.

  “There’s no path. It’s just rock,” she stated, not that pointing out the obvious helped solve their vertical dilemma. “I’ve never done rock climbing, not even at the gym where there were footholds.”

  He shook his head. “This isn’t the right place to go up based on the shitty map they gave us. But right now we have to get inside.”

  Lightning cracked above them. Huge raindrops pelted them as if someone from above threw rocks. More lightning struck a tree not thirty feet from them. Ozone assaulted her nose, and he pointed to a recess in the rock.