by Hazel Hunter
Behind the mask, she was sure that the Spider King was smirking, proud of himself.
“Oh? And what did I want you to find?”
“There was a catastrophe, wasn’t there?” Gillian said through clenched teeth. “There was violence!”
If anything, her rage only made the Spider King more pleased with himself.
“Extraordinary. Now tell me what else you saw.”
“A mob in a killing mood. One minute they worship her, the next…”
“Yes, go on.”
“There are knives.” Gillian choked. Shayne came to her side. “She died, she died… What else do you want from me?”
The Spider King nodded, laughing quietly.
“Thank you, dear, you’ve done your job. Here, these are yours.”
He tossed her a small pouch. It was made of some kind of slick, high-tech material. When she opened the cinch, she felt a rush of heat from the seeds. She quickly closed it.
I’ve done it, Gillian thought, but it didn’t feel like a victory. She pushed the seeds into her backpack.
“We’re leaving now,” she said. “I’m sorry to say I hope I never see you again.”
The Spider King nodded thoughtfully.
“There’s one more thing, though.”
Gillian was ready to scream. She wanted nothing more than to see the last of the Midnight Market.
“What?” she demanded.
In response, something struck at her from the walls. It was like she was suddenly enshrouded in sticky silk. She kept her feet, but just barely. Her hands were pinned to her sides. Her legs were locked together.
“What are you doing?” she screamed.
Next to her, Shayne was beyond words. Instead he was growling and snarling. The spider’s silk that ensnared him was even thicker. He was nearly covered head to foot in white.
The Spider King came around the desk to look at her.
“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve had a little treasure dog, and I was right. It’s not just things. If it were just things, you would have sensed a statue. It’s not just that, is it, little dog? You get to know people, whether they’re trustworthy, whether they’re honest, whether they’re hurt or whole. You know them very intimately. I have a deal for you.”
“I don’t want a deal,” Gillian spat, but he continued as if he hadn’t heard her.
“You come work for me as my precious, little treasure dog. In return, I’ll let you keep your limbs. How does that sound? It’s a good deal, and far better than what you would get elsewhere.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Gillian snapped.
He made a disappointed sound.
“Ah, Gillian. You know so little. The second offer in the Midnight Market is never as good. If you work for me, perhaps I’ll let this one live.”
He stepped closer to the thrashing Shayne. Only his head was left uncovered.
“I could sell him and get a fine price, but I think that it would be in my best interests to kill him. And I would do it so slowly, so painfully, so–”
Shayne opened his mouth. There was a whoosh of white-blue light so intense that it made Gillian’s eyes water. When it stopped, a charred body fell to the ground. The ceramic mask seemed to hover in the air, then it dropped and shattered. Gillian felt the urge to scream.
Shayne was panting, his breath coming in fast hisses.
“That son of a bitch,” he snarled. “I wish I’d done it slower.”
She stared at him. “I didn’t know you could breathe fire,” she gasped.
“Neither did I.”
The door behind them opened, and there was a familiar clanking noise.
“Oh what have you done?” Knacker asked, her voice abnormally high.
To Gillian’s shock, Knacker was wearing the lock of Gillian’s hair as eyebrows.
“We’ve killed the Spider King,” Gillian finally replied.
She was ready for the woman to attack, but Knacker surprised her. Slowly, she walked to the charred body, and lifted her skirts. With her metal feet, she trampled it, until it was in bits.
“I hated him,” Knacker said, her eyes full of tears. “Oh gods, I hated him, and now I’m free.”
She wept for a few moments, and when she pulled herself together, she cut them loose.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE SOUTH WIND wasn’t a ghost ship or a raised ship, or anything of the kind. Though the crew was a motley mix of selkies and witches, the vessel itself was simply a clipper. The captain was the enormous blond woman who Shayne had been talking to at the Pig and Rooster.
“So I see he convinced you to find a safer way,” the woman said to Gillian when they stepped aboard.
“He didn’t do anything like that,” Shayne said coming up behind her. “I’ve found I can tell her very little.”
The captain smiled and gave Gillian a conspiratorial wink. “Good for you.”
The South Wind was leaving the Midnight Market with parcels and crates of various sizes and shapes. The crew was quick to stow everything below. Gillian didn’t recognize any of it––and was glad.
Their quarters were modern and tidy. It would be five days before they made it to Tangier. From there, Shayne had figured it would take a single flight to get them to Turkey.
Now he was in the bathroom taking a shower. Ever since the reading of the statue, he had been quiet. Then again, so had she. They’d been through a lot, and they had yet to actually depart the Midnight Market.
With the gentlest of motions, as if on cue, the ship began to move. Outside of their small window, Gillian could see a night without stars. The yellow and green glow of the city slipped away as the ship turned. Though she’d moved heaven and earth to find it, she never wanted to see it again. She hoped she would never want anything so badly as she did the dragon’s eye seeds.
Shayne came out of the shower, toweling his dark hair dry, a pair of silk boxers slung low on his hips. There was something so sweetly perfect about him that it made her heart hurt.
He paused, seeing her look. “Gillian?”
“You’re beautiful,” she said with simple sincerity.
She crossed the small room and wrapped her arms around his waist. He tossed the towel to the bed.
“Gillian, we need to–”
Her gloved hands carded into his clean hair, and she pulled him down.
“We need to what?” she breathed, before she sealed her mouth over his.
For a few moments, she thought she’d taken him completely by surprise. But then his strong arms wrapped around her. Like a lit match brought to dry tinder, his mouth crashed down on hers. It was unlike anything they had shared before. It went beyond passion, and touched something deep within her. He picked her up, and she wound her legs around his hips. He crushed her to his chest, his tongue forcing her lips apart. He suckled her upper lip, and then the lower. He cocked his head one way, and then the other. His nose and chin ground into her, as his tongue pinned hers down. Though she tried to kiss him back, it was all she could do to hang on and try to keep up.
In the next instant, he flopped her down on the bed. Suddenly both her hands were pinned above her head. He paused, breathing hard, and looked deeply into her eyes. For a dizzying moment, she felt as if she could see straight into him. Brown eye, blue eye––they were entirely transparent to her. To her surprise, he stayed where he was.
“Shayne?”
“I’m sorry, Gillian.”
He let go of her wrists.
“Shayne, I’m fine. It was fine–”
He abruptly stood up. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Something about the way he’d said the words made her sit up.
“Shayne, what’s the matter?”
“Gillian, we can’t keep doing this.”
She couldn’t quite process the words. “We what?”
He spread his hands. “We can’t keep doing this.”
“That’s insane,” she declared, panic starting to rise in her chest. “
Shayne, this is who we are–”
“No, it’s not. It’s what we want to do. We have a choice.”
Gillian’s stomach flip-flopped. “A choice?”
“If we’re like this––if we’re together––I can’t do my job. I can’t protect you the way you need to be protected.”
“What does that mean?” Gillian asked, her voice shaking despite trying to control it.
“We need to stop. We…can’t do this.”
Gillian’s stomach plummeted. It felt as though the ship was sinking. In some strange part of her mind, she wished it would.
“How do we just stop?” she said, almost yelling, her voice pitched too high. “How can we–”
“There is no we,” he shouted.
She reared her head back and blinked.
“But…”
“This is a mission,” he said, his voice barely controlled. “Do you not get it? I am on a mission!”
“All right,” she yelled, covering her ears. “All right!”
Hot tears began to fill her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. She headed toward the door.
“Gillian, please,” he said, catching her elbow. “Don’t–”
Without a thought, without a single plan in her head, she slapped him. It rang like a shot in the tiny room. It made her remember baiting Konrad, and how that had felt. The shock of it ran up her arm.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, trying to cover her mouth.
His hand woodenly dropped from her arm.
She staggered to the door and was through it.
Up on deck, some of the crew paused to watch her, but she didn’t care. Instead, she lurched to the bow of the ship and crashed into the railing. She sank slowly to the deck. As the tears ran down her face and fell into the ocean, she stared down at the inky water. Of all the things she had thought to lose in the Midnight Market, Shayne had never been one. But true to its reputation, the wretched place had cost her dearly. A pain like cold steel lanced through her chest. Hopelessness yawned like a chasm that could swallow her. When Shayne believed in her, anything seemed possible. Without him…
Unable to control the sobs rising in her chest, she let them go. In all her life, she’d never known such loss, as though a part of her had died. For several minutes, it was all she could do just to breathe. Finally though, the crying stopped. Though her gloves were already soaked with tears, she wiped her eyes one more time. She was vaguely aware of the ship picking up speed.
The bow below her was cleaving through the water. The figurehead on the South Wind was a mermaid, her long tail curling down, almost touching the ocean. One hand was lifted to shade her eyes, as she scanned the distant horizon. Gillian followed her unmoving gaze. Tenebris was getting closer. In another life, she’d have been thrilled at the thought of finding it. Before today, it would have been the culmination of all her research. Until this moment, it would have been the fulfillment of her life’s purpose. But now?
She shakily got to her feet.
Now Tenebris was all that mattered––because it was all that she had left.
• • • • •
Gillian’s story continues in TRAPPED (Book Three of the Hollow City Coven Series).
For a sneak peek, turn the page.
Book 3 Excerpt:
TRAPPED
Book Three of the Hollow City Coven Series
“So you think she’s safe?” Shayne said.
“I’m anything but,” she said, and kissed him.
When their lips met, a flash of pure ecstasy rushed between them. There was a moment of deep shock, and Gillian wasn’t sure who was more surprised. But in the next instant she had turned to Mathias. He’d been watching with the avid eyes of a cat.
“Well?” she asked, a slight hint of challenge in her voice.
Mathias took her chin between his fingers, holding her still as he kissed her. She marveled at how different Mathias’s kiss was from Shayne’s. It was soft, but she could still feel the power underneath. It was a tease, like the wisp of smoke before a spark burst to flames. She took her time, allowing Mathias to explore her mouth thoroughly.
When they broke the kiss, she looked at Shayne. His gaze was nothing less than smoldering, and his aura was thick with gold sparks.
“What are you doing, Gillian?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
“What I want to do,” she said, reaching for him again. “What I think I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.”
“Gillian,” he said, standing, “you are literally on drugs. Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”
Gillian laughed softly.
“I wish you could be in my mind right now,” she said softly. “I wish you could see the things that I am seeing. I have never seen so clearly. We spend so much time worrying about things that we don’t need to worry about.”
“Give her what she wants,” Mathias said, his voice a velvet purr. “Don’t be a fool.”
He slowly rose and stood in front of Shayne. By the flickering light of the fire, they looked like young gods come to share warmth and human passion. Gillian shivered.
“I know you, Shayne,” Mathias was saying. “I know that you want nothing more than to please. You want it so much that it’s driving you insane, isn’t it?”
Shayne started to protest, but then Mathias’s hand was between his legs, squeezing him gently. Instead of whatever he had been planning to say, Shayne hissed instead. When he looked up, he locked eyes with Gillian. There was something desperate and dark in his expression.
“Come here,” she whispered. “Come here, let me have you.”
That was all the coaxing he needed. He was stumbling, falling to his knees in front of her. Her mouth was on his, demanding he respond. As his lips parted, her tongue slipped inside. Gods, he tasted good. How had she never noticed that? She could eat him alive.
Mathias sat next to her, one arm draped around her waist, his mouth nuzzling at the crook of her neck. When she broke the kiss with Shayne, Mathias was grinning at her.
“You look very pleased with yourself,” Gillian murmured.
“Look at what beautiful toys I have to play with,” he said with a soft laugh.
“I’m not your toy,” Shayne growled.
The only response that Mathias made to that was to cup his hand around the back of Shayne’s neck, and bring him close for a deep kiss. They were practically on top of her. She could feel the passion between them. For a moment the colors of their auras mingled, trying to meld, only to back away from each other. Though she’d been spellbound, she came back to herself. She reached down between Mathias’s legs and squeezed him just as he had squeezed Shayne. She found that he was more than half hard. With a few strokes of her hand, she brought him to full erection.
Mathias broke his kiss with Shayne long enough to glance down at her with a grin.
“Distracting little thing,” he said, knotting his hand hard in her hair.
Gillian gasped, remembering their night together. Shayne made a protesting noise. Mathias’s glittering green eyes looked between them.
“Who first?” he mused, but Gillian didn’t wait for him to answer his own question.
She opened Mathias’s trousers, pulled out his cock, and lowered her mouth to it. She started with slow licks along the shaft, working her hand at the base. When she glanced up, Shayne and Mathias were kissing again. Mathias’s hand in her hair was loose, but she knew how quickly it could tighten. She swirled her tongue around the tip, making his hips buck. His hand gripped her hair, making her whimper.
At that, Shayne broke the kiss, and knocked Mathias’s hand away from Gillian’s hair.
“For the love of all the hells, be gentle,” he growled.
Any other man would have been frightened by that tone, but Mathias looked delighted. A slow, sultry smile spread across his face.
“Why should I?” he asked. “Tell me why in the world should I?”
Mathias’s expression was practically
a dare. Shayne seemed as if he were on the verge of something violent. This was how they’d been together so long, pushing and pulling until something had to give.
“Because I said so,” Shayne snarled.
That was all the warning that Mathias got before Shayne grabbed his hair, twisting far more cruelly than Mathias had done to Gillian.
“Gillian,” Shayne said. “I want him to use his mouth on you. Is that all right?”
Gillian almost laughed at the polite language.
“Yes, sir,” she murmured with pleasure. The honorific slipped out without her planning it. It brought a dark satisfaction to Shayne’s face.
“Take off your clothes,” he said.
She started to reach for the hem of her shirt, but Shayne stopped her with a gentle slap to the wrist. The surprise made her yelp, and she looked at him with confusion.
“Stand up. Let us see you do it.”
Gillian felt a hot river of heat spill through her. Gulping, she stood up.
The cool wind of the desert brought goosebumps to her skin, but she stripped as Shayne commanded. At last, she stood in nothing but her skin and her gloves. The two men watched her with hungry eyes, like beasts ready to devour her. The cold air made her nipples tighten. She started to raise her hands to cover them.
“No,” Shayne ordered. She dropped her hands back down. “Turn around and let me see you.” As she turned, their gazes raked her skin. “That’s a beautiful girl. Go and lie down on the bedroll.”
• • • • •
Buy TRAPPED (Book Three of the Hollow City Coven Series) Now
MORE BOOKS BY HAZEL HUNTER
THE HOLLOW CITY COVEN SERIES
A daring quest. A deadly enemy. A protector who won’t quit. Although Wiccan Gillian Granger’s life’s work is finding a legendary city, her research in musty libraries hasn’t prepared her for the field, let alone a gorgeous escort. Shayne Savatier knows he’s on a milk run, especially after he meets his beautiful charge. But when enemies attack her, everything changes. Passion intertwines with protection, and duty bonds hard with desire.