She spared a quick look at the small crowd surrounding them in the training chamber. Only Shauna and Joe were smiling. The others still didn’t trust her.
Corey stepped to one side, jolted back and threw a punch at her midsection. Deidre turned her concentration back on the fight in time to make a fast dodge to the right. His fist caught her a glancing blow rather than a center hit. She smiled.
“I’ll take luck,” she told him and dropped, swinging her right leg out and kicking him behind his knee. Instantly, his leg buckled and he went down. Deidre jumped to her feet in an instant, her smile growing wider. “Looks like the president’s daughter is cleaning your clock.”
Joe laughed and Corey threw the man a dirty look before he got up off the floor and this time, watched her more warily. As if he’d been petting a puppy only to have it bite off one of his fingers, he was going to be more careful now.
From the corner of her eye, Dee caught money changing hands. They were betting on her. Again. According to Joe and Shauna, they had been cleaning up taking money from the rest of the team who obviously considered Deidre a lightweight.
After three days of training, fighting anyone who called her out just to prove she could defend herself, they obviously still didn’t believe in her. Well, she was used to that. Her whole life, people had dismissed her. Or worse yet, overlooked her entirely. It was the blond hair, blue eyes, big boobs thing, she supposed. They expected a woman shaped like a Barbie doll to actually be a Barbie doll.
Deidre was done with being discarded out of hand. She would earn her way into this group. Prove to Finn and all of the rest of them that she was more than her destiny.
She smiled and changed direction unexpectedly, slipping behind Corey and slapping one hand to the center of his back before darting out of reach again.
“Hah!” Joe called out and took a dollar bill from one of the other spectators. “She got you that time, Corey. If she’d had a knife, you’d be dead.”
“Yeah?” He never took his eyes off Deidre, but managed to sneer, “And if I had boobs, I’d be my sister.”
“And ugly!” Shauna’s comment brought hoots of laughter that reddened Corey’s cheeks and narrowed his eyes. He was pissed now and Deidre knew she could take him. Anger in a fight shattered concentration. Pushed people into making stupid mistakes. All of those self-defense classes she had taken over the years were finally paying off. She could hear her instructors even now . . . Keep a tight rein on emotions. Your fear and anger will give your enemy an advantage you don’t want him to have.
Deidre kept that thought in her mind as Corey made a couple of wide swings, then jumped and kicked out one leg at her stomach. She slipped past that maneuver and felt pride well up inside. Oh, she wasn’t as good a fighter as most of the members of the WLF—but clearly, she could hold her own. And if anyone tried to pull a gun or a knife on her, she could use magic to whip the weapons out of their hands.
Frustrated that he hadn’t beaten her down in the first minute, Corey rushed her, beefy arms up to capture her, the expression on his face pure fury. Deidre had only a second to decide how to handle it and went with her gut.
When he was close enough, she grabbed hold of his shirt and went over backward. She saw surprise flash in his eyes as she planted both feet in his stomach and pushed, flinging him over her head as she fell back. He landed with a crash and rolled up against the tunnel wall. Deidre ended her move with a somersault and stood up, fists raised, feet planted, waiting to see if he’d get up and try it again.
Staring up at her, he shook his head and said wryly, “Chill out, rich-witch. I’m done.”
Deidre grinned. Even the insult didn’t hurt because she’d beaten him.
From the floor, Corey added, “For today. I’ll still take you down eventually.”
“Sure you will.” Joe laughed and walked up to Deidre. Grabbing one of her hands, he briefly held it high. “Winner and still champion.”
She smiled up at him, glad she at least had his and Shauna’s support. A reluctant smattering of applause rose up and was swallowed by the cold, dank walls surrounding them. Then the team drifted apart and Deidre’s gaze swept the entire room.
“He’s not here,” Joe said, chuckling as Corey pushed himself to his feet and staggered out into the tunnels.
“What?” Deidre looked at him.
“Finn. He’s not here.”
And hadn’t been since early morning when he’d burst into flames and flashed out of the bed they shared in the crystal-studded chamber. She hated to admit, even to herself, that she actually missed him.
Maybe it was Stockholm syndrome, Deidre thought hopefully. Maybe since being kidnapped and chased and going on that refugee run, she’d begun to sympathize with Finn and the rest of his group. But even as she considered it, she knew it wasn’t true.
It was the man himself. Or Eternal or whatever the hell he was. Even when she fought the attraction, she was drawn to Finn inexorably. She felt the connection between them and it was growing by the day. Heck, by the hour. She could sense him when he was close and experienced a near physical ache when he wasn’t.
Was it only the sex magic drawing them together? She didn’t think so, though the sex really was magic, Deidre told herself with an inward smile. No, it was more than that. And more than the memories of lives spent with him that kept erupting unheralded into her mind.
It was, quite simply, Finn. He kept this little band of fighters together with the force of his own personality. He was charismatic as hell despite the brusque rudeness he seemed to be known for. He was also strong, fearless and when he looked at her, Deidre felt him staring right down into her soul. It didn’t seem to matter that she knew he only wanted to use her. Somehow he felt different from anyone else she had ever known. She . . . cared for him and didn’t know how to—or even if she wanted to—stop.
“Deidre?” Joe asked. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just sort of zoned out. Sorry. So where is Finn?”
“Who knows?” Joe winked at her. “Off saving witches or blowing up BOW headquarters.” He shrugged and grinned. “Man made of fire? No telling where he went.”
“You seem awful at ease with that,” she said, looking at Finn’s second-in-command.
“With the things I’ve seen in my life,” Joe mused as he folded up the practice mat and stored it against the wall. “A man made of fire hardly makes the top ten.”
Deidre walked across the room, snagged a bottle of water and chugged half of it before looking back at him again. In spare moves, Joe set the room to rights in a few minutes. Deidre had spent a lot of time over the last few days in this particular room off the main tunnel. Like a well-equipped gym, the stone chamber boasted padded training mats, weights, treadmills . . . everything a well-equipped militia team needed to stay in shape.
And she’d made use of all of it.
Joe had even given her a few lessons himself.
“Why are you here, Joe?”
He looked over his shoulder at her and didn’t even pretend to misunderstand the question. Straightening up, he turned to face her and stuffed both hands into his jeans pockets. “Short answer?”
She laughed and sat down on one of the folded mats, leaning her back against the wall. “You and Finn with your ‘short answers.’ You don’t have time to actually talk?”
“Not lately,” he admitted and strolled across the room to snag a bottle of water himself. Once he had it, he sat on a nearby rock outcropping and took a long drink. “But that’s not the only reason for keeping things brief, Dee. You give too much information to the wrong person . . .”
True. These days, it didn’t pay to be careless. “Okay, but who am I going to tell? Finn never lets me out of these tunnels and where would I go if I managed to get topside?”
“Good point.” He tipped his
water bottle at her in salute. “Okay, long version then.” Leaning back against the rock wall, he stretched out his legs and crossed his booted feet at the ankle.
“I went into the Marines straight from college. Made it through SEAL training and then shipped out.” His features tightened and his eyes took on a faraway look as he said, “I did a couple of tours, then got out when things started getting bad at home.”
“The war on witches you mean.”
“Yeah.” He studied the label on the water bottle as if looking for something to say. “See, sounds corny, but my dad raised me to believe in service to country.” He lifted his gaze and stared into her eyes. His voice was soft, but filled with a kind of quiet resolve. “And that’s what I’m doing. In my own way. This isn’t the country I grew up in. We don’t imprison innocent people. Or execute women on the suspicion of wrongdoing. That’s not us. When rule of law no longer applies . . . people have to stand up. However they can.”
Deidre’s admiration for the normally reticent man skyrocketed. He had risked everything by joining Finn’s group. His reputation, his freedom, his life. Because if he were found, no doubt those in charge would make an example of a Navy SEAL gone wrong.
Smiling at him, she asked, “How did you meet Finn?”
Tension broken, he laughed, then said, “I was running an op in Boston three years ago. Had a few of my old Marine buddies with me, raiding a prison to free some witches. Imagine my surprise to find Finn already there. He had half the cells opened and he was by himself.” Shaking his head in memory, he said, “Impressed hell outta me, I’ve got to say. Anyway, we got the witches out and my friends and I just stayed with Finn.”
Just as she had. Though she hadn’t had much choice in the whole thing. “Where are your friends now?”
His smile faded. “A couple are dead. The others are leading small groups like this one. We split up our defenses. Finn wanted guys with some military training to be in charge.” He shrugged. “And if we’re divided into several groups, the chances of anyone wiping out all of us seriously drop.”
She got a chill at those quietly spoken words. How sad was it that death was accepted as a matter of course? She remembered Nora, smiling one moment, dead the next and wondered how anyone was supposed to live a normal life under these circumstances. Then, she wondered if she would ever live a normal life again.
There had been too many changes in her life already, Deidre thought. She was a witch now and her powers were growing steadily every day. She was living with a group of what the world considered terrorists and actually training to become one of them.
No, normal wasn’t even in her vocabulary anymore.
From somewhere down the tunnel, laughter came in a soft ripple, reminding her that though her life was different now, it still went on. Torchlight shone on the walls, sending shadows skittering around the room. Silence fell between them for a long minute or two before Deidre finally asked, “What does your father think of what you do?”
Joe sighed. “He understands. Wishes it wasn’t necessary. But he gets it.”
Frowning just a bit, Deidre said, “It’s nice that you can talk to him.”
“Missing your mom?”
Caught, she looked up at him and gave him a rueful smile. “Yeah. I talked to her a few days ago, but . . .”
“I know how you feel.” Joe drew up his knees, then braced his elbows on his thighs. Cupping the water bottle between his palms, he added, “But you can’t tell her any of this, Dee.”
She wanted to argue, but couldn’t, since she knew he was right. As was Finn. Funny that Joe and Finn agreed on this subject but it was only Finn she resented for it. “I know.”
“It’s hard, but necessary.” He stood up, then held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. “If she knew the truth, it could endanger her.”
“True,” she said and let her gaze sweep around the stone walls that had become so familiar to her. “Doesn’t make it any easier, though.”
He chuckled and walked toward the curved archway leading to the main tunnel. “Nothing about this is easy, Dee.” He paused and looked back at her. “But it’s worth it.”
She hoped so.
Chapter 23
“That’s as close as we can get you,” Teresa said, stabbing her index finger at a point on the map.
Rune stared down at the spot Teresa indicated, then looked up at Torin. “Close to Brindisi.”
He nodded and dropped an arm around Shea’s shoulders. Pulling her in tight to his side, he stroked one hand up and down her arm. “Still a big section of sea to search.”
“Smaller than it was,” Damyn murmured.
“It’s as close as we could get without a focus—something that belonged to Egan. Combining our power,” Mairi said, with a smile at her sister-witches, “we were able to narrow the search some. But without a physical connection to our missing Eternal . . .”
“This is great.” Damyn came up behind his Mate and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You’ve all managed to do the impossible. Because of you three, Egan has a chance now.”
“You’ll find him,” Mairi said, staring at the map as if she was once again magically seeing Egan, trapped in his cage at the bottom of the ocean.
“Damn straight we will,” Rune pledged.
“Then what?” Everyone turned to look at Shea. “I mean yes, of course we save Egan. But what happens after that? If Kellyn is his Mate and she did trap him, then—”
“We have to find out why,” Teresa said and everyone’s gaze shifted to her. “While you guys go for Egan, the three of us will work a spell to find out what’s driving Kellyn. Why she did this. And how.”
Mairi nodded. “Agreed.” She looked up at her Eternal and smiled. “You three find him, bring him home. We’ll find the way to set this right.”
The first three witches of the reborn coven looked at each other and each pledged silently to bring their sisterwitch to justice. Whatever it took.
Finn flashed into the chamber he shared with Deidre and instantly sensed that she wasn’t there. Like the crystal-studded chamber he had built for her, this room too, farther along the tunnels for the sake of privacy, boasted magical enhancements. From crystals on the walls and hanging sage bundles to etchings of power symbols carved into the rocks. There was also a damned big bed he’d flashed in down here several years ago. And at the moment, that bed was empty. Hell, it was the middle of the night. Where could she be?
He was raw and frustrated and more than a little on edge. Topside, he’d put in a call to Rune only to discover that his brother Eternals were about to leave on the search for Egan. While he was stuck in DC with a witch who was both his Mate—and not.
The sex magic was blistering between them and he’d sensed the changes in Deidre as her innate powers built and matured. But it was taking too long.
He knew damn well they had to Mate for her magic to erupt completely. For her to have access to everything she would no doubt need before this was finished.
It wasn’t just that, though. Finn’s every instinct screamed at him to claim her. To make her, at last, his. Having her so near and yet so far away was driving him a little insane. He’d waited centuries for this. He wanted her—just as he always had, only now that want ran even deeper. In this lifetime, Deidre was a hardheaded, proud, strong woman and just being around her activated every damn one of his protective instincts.
Eight hundred years had passed and now that their time was here, they were both pulling back from what was needed.
“Makes no damn sense at all,” he muttered, scraping one hand across his face.
“What doesn’t?”
He whirled around to see Deidre, standing in the arched entrance. Behind her, firelight shifted plaintively in the tunnels, gilding her silhouette with a bright light
that acted like a damn homing beacon for him. Everything in him was trained on her and when she stepped into the room, his dick stood up and cheered.
“What?”
“You said something doesn’t make sense.” She walked across the room to the heavy trunk at the foot of the bed and opened it. “What doesn’t?” Then she laughed and said, “Cancel that. What does make sense lately? Shorter list.”
He ignored the banter. “Where were you?”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Out dancing.”
“Funny.”
“Well seriously, Finn, where would I have been except somewhere along the length of this tunnel?” She shook her head and bent over the trunk, rummaging through the clothing he had gone to her place to bring back for her. “And just how long are these tunnels anyway? I must have walked miles today with Shauna. She was showing me all of the storage chambers and then the different routes to different places in DC and if I had to find my way by myself, I’d be lost forever in this freaking labyrinth . . .”
Finn had stopped listening to her the moment his gaze dropped to the curve of her behind, nicely defined by the faded denim of her jeans. Hunger roared inside him and Finn didn’t even bother trying to smother it. Sex magic would help open her mind to her powers and her memories. The fact that he simply wanted her was just an added bonus.
He flashed across the room, not wanting to waste any time. Bending low, he scooped her up in his arms and when she feebly protested, he took her mouth. Desire quickened inside her instantly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips to welcome him inside. Their tongues met in a frenzied dance that was familiar and yet new, each time.
Finn tasted cinnamon and woman and witch. And that heady mix blended in his brain, then headed straight south. “Gotta have you.”
“Yes,” she whispered, tearing her mouth free to nibble at his neck. Lips and tongue and teeth moved over his skin, sending jolts of pleasure ricocheting through his system.
Magic churned in the air around them, like the bubbles in champagne, constantly rising to the surface. Power filled the crystals in the walls and reverberated around the room. Like a resonance chamber, the magics fed on themselves, burning brighter, stronger, as the sex magic ramped up and kicked simple desire into the realm of raw need.
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