by Anya Breton
He knew she was going bowling but with the countless bowling alleys in the city he’d be hard pressed to find her before they headed to dinner. Still, she was careful to take the popular route, avoiding any potential attacks from Ena witches.
The time on her phone read twenty after five when she pulled into the lot of Freddie’s favorite bowling alley. Early Monday evening seemed a good time to bowl. There weren’t many cars parked out front and those parked had left plenty of prime spaces.
Sara didn’t see Freddy’s old Kia but she wasn’t sure if he’d bought a new car since they’d last met up. In any case, he’d be at least ten minutes longer given the traffic and distance from his office. She took her time walking inside, enjoying the warm breezes passing over her skin.
By the time she’d rented her shoes and claimed the lane at the far left of the alley, she’d fully relaxed after the confrontation in the kitchen. Her ease lasted only as long as it took her to remember what Brent had said.
He only wanted her to have fun with him?
Surely he didn’t mean it. He had sounded awfully flippant. But the hard edge to his eyes when he’d said it…
Enough worrying about Brent.
Tonight she’d get a strike first, and then demand seafood. It had been far too long since she’d had oysters. If Freddy won, she’d persuade him to choose the same with tales of aphrodisiacs.
Of course, going that route would be inviting something to happen after dinner. Sara didn’t think it was a good idea. Avoiding Freddy James wouldn’t be as easy as it had been to leave Johnathon. Freddy knew where she lived. What right did she have giving any human hope when she’d have to breed with someone else very soon?
Sara’s breath caught when that very someone else stalked through the door. She shrunk back against the wall in the hope of blending but it was no use. Brent’s glittering gaze honed in on her within milliseconds.
With each foot he closed, another of the deep wrinkles slashing across his forehead became visible. A cold chill flitted up her back when he finally reached her. The savage set of his eyes didn’t bode well. Nor did the grim line of his lips quivering in time with the furious ticking of his cheek. Sara’s attention dropped to the hands clenched at either side of his hips. One had formed a white-knuckled grip while the other looked ready to hurl fire.
God above, was Brent in danger of killing her because she hadn’t allowed him to protect her?
No sooner had the question whispered across her mind did Brent’s Fire hurling hand shoot out. He grasped her throat before she could do little more than flinch. Sara fearfully choked on her next breath.
But his fingers didn’t clench. They didn’t squeeze. Nor did they tighten. Instead, Brent’s touch was hot but shockingly gentle.
Another shiver wound its way up her back. This time it was a far different sort.
Brent pulled her toward him, stepping forward until their bodies met in the middle. His lips smashed over hers at a perfect slant for them both.
It was an angry kiss but it was a kiss. Sara’s skin flushed with intense warmth. Tiny prickles of sensation cascaded over her arms that had nothing to do with the roughness of the stubble around his mouth. A quiet, mortifying noise of need escaped her. Correctly interpreting it, Brent brought them closer still. Her body fit neatly between his thighs except for the hardening obstacle within his jeans. Where her upper body brushed his, she experienced her own hardening.
“If I’d known bowling got you so hot, I would have asked you here hours ago.”
Sara went cold all over at the purring voice that had interrupted. She shoved at Brent’s chest with the flat of her hand. Though he gave her the space she’d wordlessly demanded, the fire in his eyes remained. Sara took several steps back. They would need a whole lot more distance before she’d feel secure with him in the same building after that kiss.
A pair of seconds passed in which they stared at each other, bemusement swirling in their gazes. Then they glared at Vanessa almost as one. The witch’s response was a high-pitched titter as she dropped herself into one of the molded chairs at the mouth of the lane. Her pose was comfortable as if she didn’t intend to decamp anytime soon.
“Sassy Sara!” Freddy’s voice at the entrance meant this awkward party was officially over.
If only he could have arrived four minutes earlier.
****
Brent had surprised himself as much as he’d shocked Sara. He’d been ready to harm something when he’d stalked into the bowling alley. A prayer to the Phoenix for Sara’s beau to be late had been the only protection he’d taken in with him. Then he’d seen her warily watching the entrance.
He’d seen the way she shrank against the wall as if she’d thought he’d set her aflame in the middle of the venue. The image had only flared his fury that much higher. When he’d decided to kiss her instead of strangle her had been the moment his fingers brushed the silk of her skin. That had also been when he’d realized with absolute certainty for all of his shouting and blustering he could never harm Sara.
Everyone else…
His gaze narrowed critically on her friend. The curly-haired head and mischievous eyes were familiar.
“Brent?” the guy asked with a tilted head.
Wordlessly he nodded.
“What are you doing here?”
Vanessa hopped to her feet, slipping her arm around Brent’s waist. “Double date. Hiya, Freddy. Remember me?”
Freddy James. How could he have forgotten? Sara had dated him in her sophomore year of high school. He’d been a senior. Brent had hated him and only part of it was because the pair had gone to the senior prom together. She’d been devastated when Freddy had broken up with her days before going off to Purdue.
“Vanessa Aine.” Freddy’s tone was clearly appreciative, a sound that matched the wicked curve of his lips. The guy’s gaze swung back to Brent before returning to their guest. “Dating secretaries?” He winked playfully. “I’m an associate vice president, you know.”
Brent’s attention shot to Sara. How would she take the obvious flirtation? She was watching him rather than her date. Pink rose in her cheeks when she noted his gaze on her. She quickly looked away. He planted his feet on the wood to keep himself from going to her. Brent wanted to kiss her blush brighter, to push his hands into her honey hair, to lay her down atop the floor and cover her with himself…
He needed to do something productive before he got himself in trouble.
Brent faced Vanessa. “What’s your shoe size?”
“Nine and a half,” she mumbled without taking her eyes off Freddy.
“Hold up, buddy,” Freddy called after when he’d started for the rental area.
The guy easily caught up though Brent didn’t slow his pace.
“What’s the story with these two?” Freddy asked once they’d moved out of earshot. “Sara used to complain about how much she disliked Vanessa when we dated.”
Brent lifted his shoulders negligently. “Vanessa is going through a rough patch. We’re helping her out.”
Freddy turned a perplexed eye on him. “We?”
He made himself give a sober nod. “We live together.”
Brent hadn’t planned to deliberately sabotage Sara’s date. The opportunity had presented itself without him having to lie. He wasn’t about to fix it now.
“‘We’ being you and Sara?” Freddy’s tone had lost its carefree edge. Suspicion formed in the lines around his features as he glanced toward the women.
“Yes.”
“Why did she call me for a date?”
“Did she call it a date?” Brent was fairly certain he knew the answer already.
“No…” Freddy’s attention focused on Brent’s face, perhaps looking for answers there. “Why did she call me if she has you at home?”
Brent’s gaze moved to Sara. She watched him dubiously. Sara was intelligent. No doubt she had an inkling of what he was up to while he had Freddy as an audience.
Still h
e went on with the truth she wouldn’t have wanted Freddy to hear. “Her father died last week. I was close to him these past five years. We’ve both been very upset by his passing. I’m not very good company right now.”
“Why did Vanessa call it a double date?”
“Like I said, Vanessa is going through a rough patch. Her boyfriend has threatened violence. She feels safe with me. But we’re not together.”
“You and Sara.” Freddy shook his head, a slow movement that might have been disbelief. “You two fought like an old married couple all through school.”
Back then everything had seemed egregious. To them both, he assumed. Now… Now none of the things they’d fought about at school mattered.
He didn’t care that she’d joined every club he’d ever expressed an interest in and promptly taken it over with her charm and vivaciousness. How she’d done everything better than he had without putting forth any effort did not bother him now. He wasn’t even particularly worked up that she’d dated every friend he’d ever had. Because in the end, she would be his. Her reaction to his kiss proved it.
With a half smile, Brent shrugged. “We still fight like an old married couple but afterward I get to kiss her.”
“And Sara McKenna kisses like an angel.”
Brent’s mood abruptly plummeted.
Sara hadn’t participated in the kisses. He’d not experienced any angel kisses.
By Phoenix, he would.
****
Sara’s “date” turned cautiously friendly to her but downright lusty with Vanessa. And the hoyden ate it up while continuing to brush her hands over Brent in a proprietary fashion. Watching them together made her want to scream.
What had Brent told Freddy when they’d fetched shoes?
Sometimes Sara wished she could have more of a Fire witch mentality and less of a human one. It was nothing for her people to have intercourse with a witch one day and then return to their significant other the next. In fact, it was expected of them. She wasn’t sure she could do it. She’d avoided her duty because of it.
Had Brent given Vanessa the same speech as he’d given Sara this morning? And would he expect Sara to allow all of his children and their mothers to live in McKenna House?
There was simply no way she could abide it. Though she prided herself on being a pacifist, having all of Brent’s lovers living in her house would turn her violent. As would being forced to see the faces of his children by other women on a daily basis.
The situation would only work if she moved to New York. Brent would be free to breed with many as befitted a powerful high priest. He could keep his women at McKenna House as he wanted. She’d be none the wiser. All he had to do was let one of his children go.
Did she dare suggest it? He would assume she was jealous of the other witches. And how could she prove she wasn’t when she wasn’t entirely certain of the truth herself?
Seated side by side in the molded chairs at the mouth of the lane, Vanessa and Brent made a beautiful couple. Sara’s blood angrily raced in her ears. Perhaps it was how the hoyden’s hand squeezed over his that made Sara inhale a long breath to calm herself. She’d had always disliked Vanessa. And the way the woman had stolen the show tonight, luring both men, was the explanation for Sara’s dark mood.
It had to be because the alternative was ridiculous.
Sara would make the best of the situation. She’d gone out to have fun, to laugh for a little while. If she couldn’t do that bowling with Freddy then she’d have to find another plan for lifting her spirits.
In between hauling her heavy ball to the approach area and tracking back to her seat, Sara contemplated how to proceed. Her mood did a nosedive when Brent got the first strike of the night. He also got the second. And the third.
To make the situation worse, Freddy thoughtlessly explained Sara’s deal to pay for the dinner of whoever got the first strike. So when the first game had finished without any additional strikes but plenty of gutter balls, it was time to look for fun elsewhere.
Sara suggested the others play a game without her while she got them bottles of water. Without waiting for their approval, she headed up to the snack bar. She didn’t stay in the long line that had formed. Instead, she made her way into the arcade.
One of the employees was emptying out the change holders. Sara asked for five dollars in quarters, and then challenged him to a duel on the Mortal Kombat game. The employee, a high schooler named David, was surprisingly good. They were evenly matched. Their similar skill levels made for great fun. Soon Sara found herself laughing both when she’d destroy her opponent and also when he’d do the same to her with a spectacular finishing move.
A small crowd formed around them. Brent was among those fanned behind her. His presence wasn’t a concern until David’s break ended and someone took up his spot. Sooner or later she’d have to duel Brent.
Sara pulverized her new partner with little effort. His girlfriend soon replaced him. Sara similarly destroyed the female with skilled button mashing. Only one additional failed challenger stepped up to the plate before Brent took the spot beside her. Determination set his handsome features tight as he slid his quarters into the machine then selected his character. He chose someone rather like him, dark haired and spry yet lethal.
A mere two moves into the duel were all that passed before it became clear she wasn’t going to easily win. Though they were well matched, Sara couldn’t simply button mash to take him down as she had with everyone else. To get around his character’s defensive poses, she had to resort to complex strings of moves that required her entire focus to pull off. Soon the game became work but it was work she felt she had to do.
Sara let out a triumphant cheer when she finally succeeded in destroying his digital character with a very thin sliver of health left on her own. And then she gave up her spot to someone else before Brent could steal her thunder with a rematch.
“You owe me dinner at Nepolese,” Brent called after her.
He trailed her to the snack bar. She pretended she hadn’t heard him as she gestured toward the water lining a small refrigerator behind the counter.
“Four please,” she told the snack bar attendant.
“Friday.”
She cast a glance back at Brent as she handed over the cash for the water. “I’ll buy you a gift certificate.”
“That wasn’t the deal.”
Sara gathered the sweating bottles against her chest before starting for the others. “The deal was made with Freddy. Not you,” she replied in a cool tone, knowing he’d follow close behind.
“Freddy was making plans to take Vanessa to dinner when I left them.”
While Sara wasn’t particularly surprised, she couldn’t stop herself from snapping out a question. “What did you say to him at the rental counter?”
“He asked why Vanessa was here. I told him the truth.”
She sent an impatient look over her shoulder. “I know you didn’t tell him the truth.”
Brent’s features remained steady as he replied. “I told him her boyfriend had threatened her and she was staying with us where she feels safe. That’s the truth.”
The operative word in his statement was loud and clear. “You said with ‘us’?”
“Yes,” he replied without a trace of remorse.
“Now he thinks we live together!”
“We do live together.”
Her pitch and volume lifted in exasperation. “I’m staying temporarily! We don’t live together.”
“Did you decide you didn’t need the inheritance?”
Sara stomped to their lane rather than answer his frustrating question. She all but threw the water bottles at Freddy and Vanessa. And then like the teenager she’d thought she’d outgrown, she snatched her purse from the floor so she could stalk to the entrance, calling back only, “Don’t feel well. Sorry. Bye.”
Though Brent shouted after her, she didn’t slow. And she certainly didn’t stop.
Chapter Fifteen
Brent’s nostrils flared when he finally made it out to the parking lot after making sure Vanessa would be fine alone with Freddy for the evening. Sara’s car was long gone. He tugged his phone from his pocket. The handy program to track her whereabouts showed her heading southwest.
Was she going home? Had she truly meant it when she’d said she didn’t feel well? Worry poked at his gut. What if she was sick? What if she’d developed the rare illness that had killed her mother?
Brent dashed for his car. After setting the phone in its holder where he could watch her trip, he started the engine then peeled out hot onto her trail. The tracking software showed she wasn’t going home. She’d passed McKenna House on her way somewhere else.
Then the GPS dot disappeared. Breathlessly he waited for it to reappear. Minutes passed with no dot. What might have been a temporary problem was now one of two things: she’d figured out what he’d done to her phone or her phone had been destroyed.
Brent hoped to Phoenix it was the former. He shoved the pedal to the floor even as his heart jumped into his throat. Damn her. Why couldn’t she have waited for him?
And why had he run her off? Couldn’t he have gotten along with her for once?
Desperately he wracked his brain for where she would go south of the house. The mall was north. Every store she enjoyed was as well. Likewise, there were no restaurants of note in that area.
Where had she gone?
Brent lifted his head to the sun, praying for guidance from the Fire that ruled it. He had to find her. Because if anything happened to her…he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
****
The ground held less of Sara’s father than their home did. But here in the peaceful cemetery she could be alone with her thoughts without sensing Brent everywhere. She carefully knelt at the chilly stone with Fintan’s name carved in fine serif lettering.
Closing her eyes solemnly, she took a long breath. Exhaling it did little to help her trepidation.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be whining. You didn’t like it when I whined. I’m trying to be strong.” She faltered on her next words. “But I can’t, Daddy. Why did you have to make it so hard on me when you left?” Sara choked raggedly. “Why did you have to pick him?” Gathering courage, she went on, “Would you have condemned me to a life of misery because he won’t let me leave?”