Entwined Enemies (BBW Shifter Romance): Sorcery & Shifters Book 3

by Briar, Robin

  I can actually feel Trent bristle behind me. “I didn’t have a choice,” he says. “I was impaled on a post and Jess was in the circle. They were going to kill me. I had to trigger the rune.”

  Felix stops in his tracks. Trent and I do the same. The warlock takes a deep breath, and for one terrifying moment, I can actually feel anger radiating off him in waves.

  “That’s the problem with werewolves, Jess. Their survival instinct kicks in. It guides them more than reason.”

  Felix is talking to me, but not really. He turns around and looks past me and over my head.

  “You always have a choice.”

  The look he delivers to Trent is withering. The meaning is clear. He expected Trent to die rather than reveal his secret enclave to the likes of me. People really are expendable to Felix. A means to an end, nothing more.

  Then, almost comically, he relaxes and returns to his lighthearted demeanor. Felix shrugs his slight shoulders and looks at me with a smile.

  “Really, I only have myself to blame. I knew what I was getting into when I hired Trent and his ilk.”

  Felix turns around starts walking ahead again. I hesitate to follow, but then Trent nudges me from behind, albeit gently.

  I continue walking without any more prompting. Felix keeps talking when he hears us catching up behind him.

  “If nothing else, Trent’s mistake will give us a chance to get acquainted. For a while, at least.”

  “Just a while?” I ask casually. “Until I become a liability?”

  I throw the question away, trying to hide what I’m really feeling, how much that possibility actually scares me. I’m helpless in this situation, but now is not the time for emotion. I have to be interesting instead. Sharp and witty.

  If I can’t offer good company, then why else keep me around?

  “Oh, you’re already a liability,” Felix says. “We crossed that road when I found you bouncing up and down on Trent’s lap.”

  “So why keep… what did you call me? A weapon of lust? Why keep me around if I have the ability to distract your lead werewolf general? Unless you have something more salacious in mind?”

  Felix chuckles, almost to himself.

  “It may surprise you that when it comes to matter of the flesh, I have a type, Ms. Aberdeen. You are not it. When it comes to matters of spirit, however, you are a wellspring. I can see why Saffron recruited you. Take that as a compliment if you like, but it would be premature to do so. You see, the fact that I admire your spirit is unfortunate.”

  Felix turns his head a little to address me over his shoulder. His golden eyes flash.

  “Because now I want to see how far it bends.”

  He’s testing me, my courage, trying to intimidate. I’m still drawing breath, but at his sufferance. That can change on a whim. He wants me to know that I should be afraid.

  I already know that Felix is much stronger than he looks, especially after moving that stone slab by himself.

  Make no mistake, I am afraid of him, but it’s important to hide that feeling, so I look for another thread in the conversation. Anything to preoccupy my thoughts.

  Maybe he’ll talk about Saffron with a little prompting. Were they a couple? Are they related? How do they know each other? I’m curious, but don’t want to be blunt about it.

  “If you’re anywhere close to Saffron in age, then I’m surprised you haven’t figured out one very basic fact about people. They don’t have types, not really.”

  “Oh? And how did you arrive at the conclusion?” he asks with genuine curiosity. Felix directs his question to me at yet another a voice analyzer at yet another security checkpoint.

  “Felix Eichmann. Recognized,” the computer responds. I wait for the digital voice to stop talking before answering.

  “First of all, it’s easy to confuse types and physical preferences. When you’ve seduced the number of people I have, you realize that people are more attracted to behavior than looks. Once you figure out what kind of behavior a person likes, the rest is just performance.”

  Felix actually considers that for a moment.

  “So by your definition, behavior is what people really mean by type?”

  “Yes, and with the right behavior, even looks and physical preferences can become irrelevant.”

  “I never considered that, which is saying something for me. You may have just changed my mind on the subject. Still, is it wise to reveal the tricks of your trade to me? Especially with Trent listening? He might question the sincerity of your motives back in that room. He might figure out that you were actually playing him.”

  Felix really wants to drive that point home.

  “That you call them tricks is telling,” I say. “It makes me think that you’ve been tricked before. The truth is that seduction done right is not a trick. You can fake physical pleasure. Anybody with a nose can tell when they’re being shined on.”

  “Any how can anybody know that?” Felix asks.

  “A person either has an orgasm or not. There are always signs if you care to notice them. Now take a person with heightened senses—they can tell if you’re faking right away. Their nose tells them. For seduction to work on such a person, there has to be real chemistry. Emotion.”

  “And when the person you’re trying to seduce has no emotion?” Felix asks.

  “That would be a very rare person. Take yourself, for example, which I assume you mean—you said that you admire my spirit, that you’re keeping me alive to bend it. You may as well have confessed your undying love for me.”

  That makes Felix laugh out loud. “You mistake curiosity for emotion. Your spirit interests me precisely because I’m curious to see how much force is needed to break it, reshape it to my will, even. If you think that there are any emotions attached to that curiosity, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.”

  I don’t doubt that Felix is telling me the truth. A warlock like him isn’t troubled by emotions. He mastered them long ago to gain the power he wields. Still, he took the time to answer, which gives me more insight than he knows.

  If nothing else, taking the time to explain himself means that I got a rise out of him. A slight one, but something. Whether Felix likes it or not, that’s an emotional reaction.

  The warlock opens another door, this time by putting his eye up to a camera.

  “Felix Eichmann. Recognized,” the computer predictably answers.

  I wait until the doors close behind us before continuing.

  “Given the right set of circumstances, any two people can develop feelings for each other. Sometimes it takes the slightest nudge. Other times it takes a forceful shove.”

  “And sometimes it takes being trapped in torch-lit room together?” Felix says.

  “Exactly.”

  This time I stop and turn around to face Trent behind me, which takes him by surprise.

  “It may not be clear from the start—it might even be the last thing that you ever expected—but sometimes the right set of circumstances reveals more in a split second than you could have ever realized with unlimited time to premeditate. If, and only if, you trust your instincts.”

  I can see in Trent’s expression that he knows exactly what I’m talking about. I seem to have the floor, so I keep going.

  “To do that, you have to ignore all of the conflicting thoughts screaming at you. You have to turn them off completely and let your body take over. If you can do that, actually surrender to instinct, what you find will often be surprising.”

  I stare into Trent’s crimson eyes. He doesn’t look away. He can’t help himself. I’m both making him remember the moment we shared and letting him know how it felt for me.

  I turn back to Felix. “You may be interested in how to break spirits, but I’m more interested in what makes the heart work. If pitted against each other, only one of us will succeed.”

  “You assume I even have a heart. That’s your first mistake.”

  I nod calmly. “I see. Well, thank you ver
y much for protesting the existence of your own heart, Felix. That in itself is very edifying,” I say, smiling like a cat with a bird in its mouth.

  Felix realizes he’s said too much. I can see it dawning in his golden eyes. The more he talks, the more I learn about him, especially when he denies something vehemently.

  That little insight has changed his estimation of me. Warlock or no, he was human once. Now he sees me a little differently. Not just as a seductress, but an observant manipulator, like him.

  His eyes focus on me intently. They aren’t looking at my body so much as studying the woman in front of him, taking stock of my character.

  Felix drinks me in with his gaze, dissecting the component parts, examining my soul. He’s weighing it for the first time. I don’t know whether to be disturbed or flattered.

  “You’re very good, Ms. Aberdeen. I won’t deny it, but let’s say that I do have a heart after all. You may not like what makes it beat.”

  “Challenge accepted,” I say.

  Felix smiles at me appraisingly. “At your peril, then.”

  The warlock leads us to the end of the next hallway and opens the door. Rather than going first this time, he holds it open for Trent and I to walk through.

  The corridor ends at a set of elevator doors. There’s a desk and chair off to one side of the hallway. Two sets of clothes have been neatly folded on the surface.

  Trent goes to one set and starts to put them on. Felix goes to the remaining set and starts dressing as well. A full suit. Not cheap, either. It’s much cooler than before, but still warm where we are. I’m glad for my cut-offs and shirt.

  The warlock turns to me as he finishes knotting his tie.

  “I would have brought some clothing for you as well, but like I said earlier, you were a surprise. Still, I’m sure we can find something for you to wear.”

  He pushes the button on the elevator door, which opens immediately. Trent goes in first and Felix gestures for me to go next. He steps in last and presses one of the buttons on the console. The doors close and the car lurches up.

  My fate is no longer my own. It’s in the hands of two men now. I only hope that I’ve made enough of an impression on one of them to be kept around a little while longer. Maybe then I can figure out a way to get out of this place alive.

  ENTWINED ENEMIES

  Sorcery & Shifters

  Book 3

  You've just finished reading Sorcery & Shifters Book 3, ENTWINED. The story continues in Book 4, ENTWINED STRANGERS.

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